Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), the operator of Japan’s wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, may have found nuclear fuel debris below the damaged No. 3 reactor, one of three that had meltdowns in the 2011 disaster, Kyodo News reported on Friday. Tepco detected black-colored material that dangled like icicles that could be nuclear debris near the bottom of the reactor’s pressure vessel that contained the fuel rods, the report said, citing unnamed sources. Finding the highly radioactive melted fuel rods may pave the way for Tepco to develop methods to remove the melted fuel. Tepco launched its first attempt to probe the inside of the No. 3 reactor using a submersible robot on Wednesday, the company said in an e-mail on Thursday. The company plans to continue its probe until Saturday.
Reuters 21st July 2017 read more »
Daily Mail 21st July 2017 read more »
Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) has confirmed the presence of what could be molten fuel within the flooded primary containment vessel (PCV) of unit 3 at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan. Similar surveys using robots have already been carried out at units 1 and 2 of the plant.
World Nuclear News 21st July 2017 read more »