nuclear-news

Drone to examine highly radioactive debris inside Fukushima No. 3 reactor building

Drone to probe Fukushima N-plant interior, The Japan News , 10 Feb 18   The Yomiuri Shimbun Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. plans to use a small unmanned aerial vehicle to closely inspect conditions inside the No. 3 reactor building of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant as early as this month.

TEPCO will use the drone to examine the location of scattered debris and the level of radiation inside the reactor building, among other things.

It will be the first drone-based research conducted inside the plant’s Nos. 1, 2 and 3 reactor buildings, in which nuclear meltdowns occurred.

……..TEPCO’s plan is for the drone to enter the No. 3 reactor building through a bay for large cargo on the first floor, then fly upward through a series of openings from the first to the fifth floor.

The drone will check areas including the building’s third floor, which has not been sufficiently monitored because radiation levels are too high.

According to TEPCO, key equipment such as that used to cool spent nuclear fuel pools are located on the third floor.

Confirming the location of possible obstacles and the level of radiation is necessary before decommissioning work can progress.

………Work is currently under way to construct a dome-shaped roof over the building to facilitate the removal of fuel that remains in the spent fuel storage pools. http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0004230028

February 12, 2018 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Fukushima continuing