A robot will soon try to remove melted nuclear fuel from Japan’s destroyed Fukushima reactor

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — The operator of Japan’s destroyed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has demonstrated how a remote-controlled robot would retrieve tiny bits of melted fuel debris from one of three damaged reactors later this year. The removal of melted fuel was supposed to begin in late 2021 but has been plagued with delays, underscoring the difficulty of recovering from the magnitude 9.0 quake and tsunami in 2011. The operator plans to remove less than 3 grams (0.1 ounce) of debris in the upcoming test at the Fukushima plant. About 880 tons of highly radioactive melted nuclear fuel remain inside the three damaged reactors.