The operator of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant started dismantling a canopy on Oct. 22 installed over the damaged No. 1 reactor building to prevent radioactive substances from entering the atmosphere.
The operator of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant started dismantling a canopy on Oct. 22 installed over the damaged No. 1 reactor building to prevent radioactive substances from entering the atmosphere.
Workers at the Tokyo Electric Power Co. plant started the operation shortly after 7 a.m. They used a crane-mounted drill to make eight 30-square-centimeter holes in one of the canopy's six massive panels.
After drilling into the 40-meter-by-7-meter panel, the workers sprayed synthetic, anti-scattering resin inside the building to minimize the possibility of radioactive substances being stirred up into the air. Cameras will also be inserted into the building to survey the vast amount of debris inside.
The structure's walls and roof were severely damaged in a hydrogen explosion on March 12, 2011, after the plant was struck by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. The cover was erected in October 2011.
After dismantling the canopy, TEPCO plans to remove a large amount of the highly contaminated debris, rubble and dust that remain inside in fiscal 2016 and spent nuclear fuel rods stored in pools in fiscal 2017.
The canopy-removal operation will go into full swing after March 2015, as TEPCO is currently placing priority on the construction of frozen soil walls near the No. 1 reactor building to prevent groundwater from seeping in.
During work to clear debris from the plant's No. 3 reactor building in August 2013, radioactive substances spread and contaminated plant workers on site about 500 meters away.
To obtain consent from local governments for the project, the utility promised to closely monitor radiation levels during the canopy-removal work and provide them with such data.