Approaching for an hour can be fatal! The Fukushima nuclear power plant has a large number of highly radioactive sandbags that are difficult to recycle and work with
According to a report by Kyodo News Agency on the 6th, currently, there are still 2850 highly radioactive sandbags stacked underground in two buildings of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. These sandbags were placed to adsorb radioactive substances from contaminated water during the 2011 nuclear accident. However, due to the aging of sandbags, recycling work has become very difficult.
According to reports, on March 11, 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake occurred in the northeastern waters of Japan, causing severe damage to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. At that time, the basement of the processing main building and high-temperature incinerator building on the south side of Unit 4 of the nuclear power plant was used to receive nuclear contaminated water from Units 1 to 3 due to core melting.
To adsorb radioactive materials, staff placed a total of 2850 sandbags containing zeolite and activated carbon, weighing 41.5 tons, in these two locations.
According to reports, the highest radiation level on the surface of sandbags is about 4.4 sieverts per hour, and if a person is exposed to it for one hour, the mortality rate can reach up to 50%.
To recycle these sandbags, the relevant parties have developed a two-stage operation plan. In the first stage, the staff will remotely control the robot and use a pump to extract zeolite and other substances from the sandbags. In the second stage, other robots will be used to transfer the extracted zeolite and other items from underwater to the ground. After dehydration, they will be placed in metal storage containers and then transported to the high ground in the factory area.
Starting from October 2022, the relevant robot experiments have begun, and according to the plan, underwater collection work will be launched within the year 2023. However, Tokyo Electric Power Company announced in July that it would postpone its ground handling operations beyond 2024, citing the need for time to improve safety.
In addition, after reviewing the implementation plan, the Japan Atomic Energy Regulatory Commission has requested the executing unit to provide specific radiation protection measures for the operators. It is not yet possible to predict when the recycling operation will be approved.