The decades-long challenge to cancel the Fukushima plant by 2051 is in trouble

The decades-long challenge to abolish the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which was crippled by the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan in 2011, has become more complex as remote-controlled probes have recently highlighted the extent of the damage to the reactors.

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. , The operator of the six-reactor nuclear complex, to cancel the plant between 2041 and 2051. But critics have questioned the schedule, citing not only the extremely high levels of radiation, but the problems associated with the delay. An estimated 900 tons of molten fuel debris.

Factory disposal involves the tedious decision of how to dispose of the vast amount of residual radioactive waste as a by-product. This was exacerbated as no municipality offered to become the final disposal site while the plant was in operation.

In the wake of a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and the subsequent tsunami that struck the plant on March 11, 2011, Reactors 1 to 3 at the Fukushima Daiichi plant suffered collapses, while hydrogen explosions destroyed the buildings housing Reactors 1, 3 and 4.

Photo taken on November 12, 2011, shows the Building of Reactor No. 3 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, which was damaged by an explosion after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. (Kyodo)

Given the instability of renewable energy, Japan expects atomic energy to remain one of its main sources of energy, accounting for 20 to 22 percent of total electricity generation in fiscal 2030. It may increase the push for emissions-free nuclear energy as it aims to become carbon neutral in the year 2030. 2050.

Of Japan’s 33 reactors, excluding those due to be canceled, only four are currently in operation, in part because they need to clarify stricter safety regulations after the Fukushima accident.

Tsutsui, a former petrochemical complex engineer, notes that the risks of extracting debris are “more apparent” than when the roadmap was first compiled in December 2011. With this in mind, he urged the government to act responsibly and review the roadmap.

“It has been nearly 10 years since the Fukushima accident,” said Fukushima Governor Masao Uchibori in a recent testimony, “but as far as the long decommissioning process is concerned, we are still hovering around the starting line. We have a long journey ahead.”

“The most difficult step is the safe and stable recovery of the wreck, but we do not know its condition,” he added.

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Complex on February 21, 2018. Right from No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4. (Kyodo)

Despite the use of computer simulations and small-scale internal investigations using remote cameras, data about the exact locations and other details of the molten fuel are scarce – important information for identifying recovery methods and developing appropriate technology and robots.

The robotic probes in Units 2 and 3 have captured large quantities of material that appears to be melted fuel, but attempts so far have been unsuccessful in Unit 1.

TEPCO chose to initiate fuel removal in Unit 2 because it has the best understanding of indoor conditions there but no time frame has been set for the other two units.

In a setback to recovery efforts, the company said in late December that removing melted fuel from Unit 2 would delay its initial start-up period in 2021 by at least a year because the coronavirus pandemic had halted robot development in Britain. Arm to be used for extraction.

However, that robotic arm can only extract a few grams of molten fuel debris at a time. Experts say removing hundreds of tons of molten fuel from the reactor completely requires larger machinery.

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In another development that could affect the shutdown process, a NRC study group said in January that a high concentration of radioactive cesium may have accumulated in the containment caps of Reactors # 2 and # 3.

The regulator’s findings in a draft of a new interim report on the Fukushima accident came as a shock because it was previously believed that most of the radioactive material remained at the reactor bed in the form of melted nuclear fuel debris.

While Industry Minister Hiroshi Kagiyama acknowledged “delays” and “difficulties in setting expectations”, he insisted that the sweeping shutdown is making “steady progress”. The government and TEPCO say they will stick to the existing road map.

TEPCO, its largest Japanese government shareholder, has not provided an estimate of the debris removal costs, which would add to the 8 trillion yen ($ 75 billion) already anticipated for the shutdown.

The utility and government are also grappling with the buildup of radioactive water, which is generated in the process of cooling fusion reactors.

Part of the water is stored in huge tanks set up inside the building, after it went through a system that removes various radioactive materials except for tritium, which is difficult to separate from the water.

Tanks containing treated water including radioactive tritium stored at the buildings of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Complex on February 21, 2018 (Kyodo)

The government is considering dumping water into the Pacific Ocean after diluting it to a radiation level below the legal limit, saying the tanks are getting full. Once extracted from the damaged reactors, space is needed to store debris, she says.

But drainage remains a sensitive issue, especially for the local fishing industry, which has been struggling to revive its business in the aftermath of the accident. South Korea and China, as well as UN human rights experts, have expressed caution about the layoffs.

Observers say that its release into the ocean could lead to an ongoing ban on exports from this region or new restrictions on exports.

According to Yasuru Kawai, another committee member, the government’s decision to release treated water into the sea is in fact the government’s attempt to minimize the impact of the Fukushima crisis and say the dismantling work is on the right track.

“But the road map is nothing but a pie in the sky,” he said.

The committee says it makes more sense to keep debris inside reactors than to recover it and suggests building a shield around the reactors and delaying ejection of molten fuel until 100 years or 200 years later when radioactivity levels drop.

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