Japan’s TEPCO finds possible nuclear fuel debris

The operator of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant may have finally found a portion of nuclear fuel debris responsible for a lot of the lingering contamination from six years ago. If confirmed, it will dramatically improve clean-up efforts.

One of the most difficult aspects of the cleanup was getting to those hard-to-reach places where residual nuclear material remained.

The substance is so toxic that even specially-made robots designed to probe the underwater depths beneath the power plant crumble and shut down.

The exciting find on Monday was made by a remote-controlled camera fitted on a long pipe, MHK reports.

Underneath the No. 1 plant, just below the inactive Reactor 2 – one of three that had melted down in 2011 – scientists with TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) saw a black spot they had not seen before, and one not visible in recordings taken prior to the catastrophe.
 rt.com
30/1/17
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