A Robot Begins Removal of Melted Fuel From the Fukushima Nuclear Plant. It Could Take a Century

A robot entered a damaged reactor at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant on Tuesday, beginning a two-week mission to retrieve melted fuel debris for the first time since the 2011 disaster. The operation marks a crucial step in the decades-long process to decommission the plant and address the highly radioactive material inside three damaged reactors.

The robot, maneuvered remotely due to lethal radiation levels, will collect less than 3 grams of debris using tongs. This sample will provide vital data on the status of the reactor cores and inform future cleanup strategies. An estimated 880 tons of molten fuel remains in the three reactors, posing potential safety risks as the structures age. AP adds: Removal of the melted fuel was initially planned to start in late 2021 but has been delayed by technical issues, underscoring the difficulty of the process. The government says decommissioning is expected to take 30-40 years, while some experts say it could take as long as 100 years.

Others are pushing for an entombment of the plant, as at Chernobyl after its 1986 explosion, to reduce radiation levels and risks for plant workers. That won't work at the seaside Fukushima plant, says Lake Barrett, who led the cleanup after the 1979 disaster at the U.S. 'You're in a high seismic area, you're in a high-water area, and there are a lot of unknowns in those (reactor) buildings,â he said. 'I don't think you can just entomb it and wait.'

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