Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (Tepco) has successfully retrieved a small sample of radioactive fuel from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant using a remote-controlled AI-based robot. This marks the first time such a sample has been collected from one of the damaged reactors, which suffered meltdowns following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
The sample will undergo testing to determine its suitability for analysis, which is crucial for developing a safe decommissioning strategy for the facility.
Despite delays due to procedural errors and equipment malfunctions, Tepco officials remain optimistic that the sample’s radioactivity will fall with in safe limits. If it exceeds the threshold, the robot will attempt to retrieve another piece.
The Japanese government and Tepco have set an ambitious target of completing the cleanup process within 30 to 40 years. However, many experts believe that this timeline is overly optimistic and that the actual decommissioning process could take significantly longer.
