Robot stuck in Fukushima No. 2 reactor on 1st try, abandoned. Damage inside No. 2 reactor building at Fukushima plant greater than expected

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The Sasori robot is stuck inside the containment vessel of Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant’s No. 2 reactor on Feb. 16. (Provided by International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning)

Robot stuck in Fukushima No. 2 reactor on 1st try, abandoned

In the latest hitch in efforts to decommission reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, a robotic surveyor became mired in deposits and was lost on its maiden journey on Feb. 16.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the plant in Fukushima Prefecture, had to abandon the Sasori (scorpion) robot after it became stuck inside the containment vessel of the power station’s No. 2 reactor that morning.

The highly touted probe was specially developed for the important task of surveying the interior of the crippled reactor and collecting data to assist in removing the melted fuel.

But with the environment inside too treacherous for a key component in the process, TEPCO’s decommissioning project seems to have come to a standstill.

According to the utility, the robot entered the containment vessel around 8 a.m. It traveled along a 7.2-meter-long rail connecting the outer wall of the containment vessel with its central portion immediately beneath the pressure vessel.

But about 5 meters into its mission, the robot’s controls started to become less responsive. TEPCO believes it was due to deposits and other debris that are blocking the rail entering its drive system.

The operator tugged on the electrical cable connected to the robot and had it pull back to an area along its path with less obstacles, but it ultimately became stuck there.

The robot measured the radiation levels in the area at 210 sieverts per hour, which is lethal enough to kill a human in two minutes. Earlier, the company had estimated the level in the area at 650 sieverts per hour from video footage captured on Feb. 9 by another robot that paved the way for the Sasori.

With the robot completely immobilized, TEPCO gave up on retrieving it around 3 p.m. The operator cut the electric cable and closed the tunnel bored into the wall of the containment vessel, entombing the robot inside.

The probe was cast aside to the edge of the 0.6-meter-wide rail so that it would not impede future surveyor robots.

Had everything gone according to plan, TEPCO would have sent the Sasori onto the grating in the heart of the containment vessel, which is covered in black chunks believed to be melted fuel rods that fell from the pressure vessel above.

The utility had hoped to measure the dosage of these radioactive lumps, as well as capture images of the underside of the pressure vessel, which contains holes from when the nuclear fuel burned through it in the meltdown that was triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201702170048.html

Damage inside No. 2 reactor building at Fukushima plant greater than expected

Damage within the No. 2 reactor building at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant was found to be greater than expected, based on images sent back by a robot sent into the structure by plant owner Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) in a mission that concluded Feb. 16.

The operation used a self-propelled scorpion-shaped robot, with the goal of investigating the inside of the reactor’s containment vessel and the area directly beneath the reactor, but the area under the reactor was not reached. The No. 2 reactor building was thought to be comparatively undamaged compared to the No. 1 and No. 3 reactor buildings, where hydrogen explosions occurred. Worse damage than expected was discovered, however, such as holes in the grating foothold inside the containment vessel.

At a press conference, TEPCO official Yuichi Okamura stressed, “This investigation was the first of its type in the world and uncovered information about the debris inside. The mission wasn’t a failure.”

The robot’s camera also took footage of the condition of pipes in the structure, and image processing could make these pictures clearer. However, the robot’s treads stopped moving after it proceeded over 2 meters along a rail, and TEPCO was not able to use it to check the melted nuclear fuel.

TEPCO plans to decide as early as this summer on how to remove the melted fuel from the No. 1 through No. 3 reactors and start the decommissioning process in earnest. The results of the investigation were to be used as base data for the decommissioning, but with it having not produced an overall understanding of the No. 2 reactor building’s interior, a new investigation will probably be sought.

However, no plan for the next investigation has been decided, and it may begin with the development of a new robot. TEPCO plans to send in a different robot to the No. 1 reactor building next month. For the No. 3 reactor building, a robot capable of moving in water is being developed because there is a large amount of contaminated water at the bottom of its containment vessel.

http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20170217/p2a/00m/0na/011000c