TEPCO unveils new robot arm for nuclear debris removal

TEPCO plans to begin setting up the robot arm next month and is expected to start the third trial of collecting nuclear debris from the No. 2 reactor at the plant this autumn.

Developed by the International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning since 2017, the 22-meter-long robot arm can grab debris from a wider area than the previous fishing rod-like devices, which collected 0.9 milligram of debris each in the first and second trials.

At the Fukushima plant, about 880 tons of extremely radioactive fuel debris are estimated to remain in the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 reactors.

Large-scale debris removal work is scheduled to begin at the No. 3 reactor in fiscal 2037 or later, while specific removal methods are being considered for the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors.