Robotic probes have plunge into the watery laying waste of the Fukushima atomic index plant life and reveal that lively defend structures seem to be damaged . While the uncovering is not an immediate vexation , it ’s revere it could become a major issue if another earthquake sway the surface area .
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings ( TEPCO ) use remote - see probesto explorethe submerged depths of the nuclear power industrial plant and keep tabs on how the massively expensive clean - up operation is go .
According toan update[PDF ] liberate on Tuesday , one of their robots recently took image of the Unit 1 pedestal , a supporting structure under one of the nuclear reactor cores that have a meltdown during the notorious2011 atomic disaster .
A deposit, possibly of melted fuel, outside the pedestal. Image credit: TEPCO
Associated Pressreports that the 120 - centimeter ( 47 - column inch ) thick concrete rampart of the pedestal was showing signs of significant damage at its fundament , exposing the steel reinforcement inside .
The concern is that three of the reactors contain an estimated total of 880 tons of extremely radioactive melt fuel debris . concord toThe Asahi Shimbun , TEPCO managed to obtain the first optical confirmation of the liquid nuclear fuel in the Unit 1 nuclear reactor for the first meter just last week .
The clear - up procedure is still challenge with removing the fuel debris . If these support body structure check , then it threatens to stimulate further headaches for TEPCO .
Reports of the impairment motivate the Governor of Fukushima Prefecture , Masao Uchibori , to ask TEPCO to immediately evaluate whether the social structure could survive another earthquake , just like the one that prompted the disaster .
The catastrophe fall out on March 11 , 2011 , when a 9.0 order of magnitude earthquake struck the east coast of Japan , make a 15 - time ( 50 - base ) tsunami that kill over 18,000 people along Japan ’s northeast glide .
The withering waves also strike the Fukushima Daiichi atomic power plant life , shutting down its power provision and life-sustaining cooling organization . This led to a nuclear meltdown in three of its reactors and sent significant measure of radiation into the ambiance . see the scale of the fortuity , it ’s widely consider to be the worst atomic disaster sinceChernobylin 1986 .
After a long and het public debate , TEPCO latterly articulate it was going ahead withplans to dumpthis cover water into the Pacific Ocean , sparking anger from local sportfishing communities and neighboring countries . It might sound sketchy , but the marriage proposal issafer than it sound – and perhaps the only option on the table .
