TEPCO retrieves fuel debris sample from Fukushima Daiichi reactor

Feat seen as largest hurdle to long-term decommissioning process

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant's No. 2 reactor. An estimated 800 tonnes of fuel debris remain in the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 reactors since the 2011 meltdown. © Kyodo

November 7, 2024 13:34 JST

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex said Thursday it successfully retrieved a small amount of melted fuel from the No. 2 reactor damaged in the massive earthquake and tsunami disaster that struck northeastern Japan in March 2011.

It is the first time Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings has removed melted fuel from one of the reactors at the Fukushima plant, a task viewed as the largest hurdle in the decades-long process of decommissioning the complex.