All's well

November 16, 2016

15.11.2016_No226 / News in Brief

Tepco Completes Dismantling Of Wall Panels At Fukushima-Daiichi-1

http://www.nucnet.org/all-the-news/2016/11/15/tepco-completes-dismantling-of-walls-at-fukushima-daiichi-1

Security & Safety

15 Nov (NucNet): Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) has completed dismantling all 18 outer wall panels at the Fukushima-Daiichi Unit 1 building, a statement by Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (Jaif) said. This is a major step towards the removal of spent fuel from the spent fuel pool at Unit 1, Jaif said. Tepco began dismantling the outer wall panels in September 2016. Jaif said no significant change in the concentration of radioactive materials has been detected during the operation. Each of the four damaged reactor units at Fukushima-Daiichi has its own spent fuel pool. Removing fuel assemblies has been a major objective within the larger decommissioning process. According to Jaif, it will take two years for debris to be removed from the upper part of the operating floor at Unit 1 and for a fuel-removal cover and fuel-handling machine to be installed. Fuel removal from the Unit 1 spent fuel pool is scheduled to begin around March 2021. Jaif said Tepco is still carrying out an investigation on the state of debris beneath the collapsed roof of Unit 1 in anticipation of the removal. A camera and a dust-sampling device, both hung from a crane at the upper part of the reactor building, are recording conditions and gathering data on the concentration of radioactive materials in the air, Jaif said.

Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers):

• Tepco Launches Global Site For Help With Fukushima Decommissioning (News in Brief No.215, 31 October 2016)