Japan’s Fukushima plant clean-up at snail’s pace as nuclear experts flag achievements – ‘not a race’

“This is not a race but a structured, careful and stepwise approach which at every stage requires you to take time, determine the best strategy and guarantee both short-term and long-term safety,” said Vincent Gorgues, chief of staff to the French High Commissioner for Nuclear Energy who is one of three international advisers advising Japanese authorities on the matter.

On Friday, Japan’s Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corporation (NDF) announced that two complementary methods would be used to overcome the largest hurdle in the decommissioning process – removing fuel debris that leaked from the reactors.

One method will require the deployment of robots to enter the reactor buildings to gather the debris and move it to a location where it can be more easily dealt with.

The other method will require the use of a solidifying agent on the leaked fuel to block the release of large amounts of radiation.

Experts have also reportedly looked into the construction of a vast reservoir around each of the reactor buildings that can be filled with water for radiation shielding and the deployment of robotic systems designed to work in that environment.

The plan’s main drawbacks are the enormous size of the reservoir required to completely submerge the reactor and concerns over possible leaks. The use of robots is also problematic as there have been setbacks with the deployment of robot units into the reactor buildings.

Remote-controlled drones and a robot that moves like a snake were sent into the No 1 reactor in early March. The deployment encountered technical glitches before the drones and the robot could locate the fuel debris or identify access routes.

Gorgues said such challenges have been expected and