Debris removal at Fukushima plant resumes

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. (PHOTO: Reuters)

According to a company official, the works had previously been suspended due to an equipment malfunction. 

The preparatory work, which is the first of its kind to be undertaken at the site since a powerful tsunami destroyed the plant in 2011, was suspended last month on August 22, due to an error in the installation of the extraction equipment. 

Works to remove the debris, which consists of around 880 tonnes of nuclear fuel debris and parts of the plant’s infrastructure, have now resumed.

The debris was originally scheduled for removal at the start in 2021, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In August last year, TEPCO started to release treated radioactive water from the Fukushima plant, as part of the decommissioning process, which resulted in a ban of Japanese seafood imports by China, Japan’s top seafood buyer at the time.

Cost of Fukushima nuclear disaster rises to $ 188 bn Japan’s government seeks improved performance as costs soar on reparation work at the site of Japan’s worst ever nuclear plant disaster

Snake-like robot to be deployed at wrecked Fukushima power plant Japan’s Tepco to survey Fukushima Daiichi with robot and drones for decommissioning

(Reporting by Katya Golubkova; Editing by Stephen Coates)