All eyes remain on unit 4 at Fukushima Daiichi as Tokyo Electric Power Co. prepares to remove fuel assemblies from its damaged reactor building. Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency has begun monitoring the analysis of nearby sea water, and the Japanese government announced it will become more involved in the plant's decommissioning.
Recent developments at the reactors damaged by Japan's 2011 earthquake and tsunami include:
Test Run Pushes Back Unit 4 Fuel Removal
Fuel removal at unit 4 has been delayed by as much as two weeks, Kyodo reported this week citing unnamed sources. TEPCO had planned to begin removing the fuel from the unit – where all of the assemblies were stored in the spent fuel pool at the time of the tsunami – as early as Nov. 15. Instead, workers will first conduct a test run of the transfer process at the request of a Japanese regulatory agency. The process involves two cranes installed above the pool. One will move fuel assemblies into a submerged special container, while the second caps the container and removes it from the SFP for transport to the plant's common spent fuel pool.
IAEA Begins Sea Water Monitoring
Two experts with the International Atomic Energy Agency arrived at Fukushima this week at the request of the Japanese government to observe seawater sampling and analysis. Their observations will contribute to an international peer review this fall of the plant's road map for decommissioning, according to the IAEA.
Government to Help Fund Decommissioning
A proposal by Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party would have the government provide more money for the cleanup than expected. The Asahi Shimbun reported that the proposal anticipates government funding for radioactive debris storage, water management and decommissioning of the reactors. Cleaning up Fukushima Daiichi is expected to cost more than $100 billion, but the funding mechanisms set up by the previous administration are only allowed to loan TEPCO half of that amount.