Small drone enters damaged Fukushima reactor for the first time

2024-02-28 06:48:02

TOKYO (AP) — A drone small enough to fit in your hand flew inside one of the damaged reactors at the failed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in hopes it might examine some of the remains of molten fuel in areas where other robots they mightn’t reach.

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings also began dumping the fourth batch of radioactive, treated and diluted water from the plant into the sea. The government and TEPCO, the plant’s operator, say the water is safe and that the process is supervised by the International Atomic Energy Agency, but the discharges have met with strong opposition from fishing organizations and led to a veto in China to the Japanese fish and seafood.

A magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 destroyed the plant’s power supply and cooling systems, causing meltdowns at three reactors. The government and TEPCO plan to remove the enormous amount of molten nuclear fuel that remains inside each reactor, a huge dismantling task that has already been delayed for years due to technical difficulties and lack of data.

To help fill this lack of information, a fleet of four drones were scheduled to fly, one by one, to the containment vessel of reactor number 1, the most affected.

TEPCO has sent several probes — including a crawling robot and a submersible vehicle — into each of the three reactors, but the expeditions have been complicated by debris, strong radiation and the inability to direct them through the wreckage. , although in recent years the devices managed to gather some data.

In 2015, the first robot to enter the reactor got stuck in a crevice. The mission obtained some useful information, but the crawling robot had to be abandoned.

Wednesday’s drone flight was carried out following months of preparations and training that began in July, in a scenario located near the plant that recreates the place.

The drones, which each weigh 185 grams (6.5 ounces), are highly maneuverable and their blades hardly stir up dust, making them a popular model for factory safety checks. The device is square in shape and measures 18 centimeters (7 inches) on each side, with regarding 5 centimeters (2 inches) thick. It carries a high-definition camera to transmit live video and higher quality images to an operating room.

Due in part to its battery life, drone research at the reactor is limited to five-minute flights.

TEPCO officials plan to use the new data to develop technology for future probes and a process to remove molten fuel from the reactor in the coming years. The data will also be used in the probe into how exactly the 2011 merger occurred.

First, two drones will investigate the area around the outside of the vessel’s main support structure, called the pedestal, before deciding whether the other two might be sent inside, to the area that previous probes failed to reach.

The pedestal is located directly under the reactor core. Authorities hope to record the bottom of the core to determine how superheated fuel leaked there in 2011.

About 880 tons of highly radioactive molten nuclear material remain in the three damaged reactors. Critics say the 30- to 40-year goal for cleanup set by the government and TEPCO at Fukushima Daiichi is too optimistic. The damage to each reactor is different, and plans must be adapted to their conditions.

TEPCO’s goal is to remove a small amount of molten remains from the least damaged reactor, number two, on a test basis. The operation, which will use a robotic arm, was originally scheduled for the end of March but had to be delayed due to difficulties in removing a deposit that complicated access. That delay of several months was on top of almost two years of delays, a reflection of the difficulty and uncertainty of the dismantling process.

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