Debris Removal at Fukushima N-Plant Not to Start before FY 2037
Tokyo, July 29 (Jiji Press)--Full-scale removal of nuclear fuel debris from the No. 3 reactor of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan will not start before fiscal 2037, it was learned Tuesday.
The removal was previously planned to begin in the early 2030s. This delay may push the completion of the plant's decommissioning process beyond the target year of 2051 set by the Japanese government and TEPCO.
The new timeline for the work was announced by TEPCO and Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corp., or NDF, at separate press conferences. They determined that preparations for the work, such as the demolition of an adjacent building, will take about 12 to 15 years.
"We aren't in a situation where we should deny (the feasibility of) the decommissioning target," said Akira Ono, head of TEPCO's in-house company in charge of the decommissioning work. "We remain committed to the goal of completing (the decommissioning process by 2051.)"
A total of 880 tons of debris, or a mixture of melted nuclear fuel and reactor structures, is believed to be in the No. 1 to No. 3 reactors at the nuclear plant, which suffered a triple meltdown following the March 2011 massive earthquake and tsunami.
(2025/07/29-20:42)
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