TEPCO Begins Probe inside Meltdown-Hit Fukushima Reactor

Tokyo, Oct. 2 (Jiji Press)--Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. on Friday began investigating the inside of the meltdown-stricken No. 2 reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant by inserting a robotic arm through an opening in the containment vessel.

The company aims to better understand conditions inside the reactor at the plant in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, as it plans to extract some nuclear fuel debris on a trial basis. The work is expected to take about half a year.

According to TEPCO, the latest operation involves cutting some rails and cables that could obstruct the robotic arm's entry with high-pressure water jets and collecting 3D data and images from inside the containment vessel. This information will be used to develop and design new equipment.

The opening in the containment vessel had been used to remove equipment for inserting and withdrawing control rods, which control the nuclear fission reaction. Rails installed down to the bottom of the reactor pressure vessel are believed to be hindering investigations.

TEPCO plans to capture images, including those of the lower part of the pressure vessel, with multiple cameras attached to the robotic arm. Debris removal is expected to begin next year, with the collection amount likely to be several grams. The company has so far removed about 0.9 grams of debris over two rounds.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]