TOKYO (AP) — A robot that has spent months inside the ruins of a nuclear reactor at the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi plant delivered a tiny sample of melted nuclear fuel on Thursday, in what plant officials said was a step toward beginning the cleanup of hundreds of tons of melted fuel debris.
The sample, the size of a grain of rice, was placed into a secure container, marking the end of the mission, according to Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, which manages the plant. It is being transported to a glove box for size and weight measurements before being sent to outside laboratories for detailed analyses over the coming months.
Plant chief Akira Ono has said it will provide key data to plan a decommissioning strategy, develop necessary technology and robots and learn how the accident had developed.
Despite multiple probes in the years since the 2011 disaster that wrecked the plant and forced thousands of nearby residents to leave their homes, much about the site's highly radioactive interior remains a mystery.
The sample, the first to be retrieved from inside a reactor, was significantly less radioactive than expected. Officials had been concerned that it might be too radioactive to be safely tested even with heavy protective gear, and set an upper limit for removal out of the reactor. The sample came in well under the limit.
That's led some to question whether the robot extracted the nuclear fuel it was looking for from an area in which previous probes have detected much higher levels of radioactive contamination, but TEPCO officials insist they believe the sample is melted fuel.
The extendable robot, nicknamed Telesco, first began its mission August with a plan for a two-week round trip, after previous missions had been delayed since 2021. But progress was suspended twice due to mishaps — the first involving an assembly error that took nearly three weeks to fix, and the second a camera failure.
On Oct. 30, it clipped a sample weighting less than 3 grams (.01 ounces) from the surface of a mound of melted fuel debris sitting on the bottom of the primary containment vessel of the Unit 2 reactor, TEPCO said.
Three days later, the robot returned to an enclosed container, as workers in full hazmat gear slowly pulled it out.
On Thursday, the gravel, whose radioactivity earlier this week recorded far below the upper limit set for its environmental and health safety, was placed into a safe container for removal out of the compartment.
The sample return marks the first time the melted fuel is retrieved out of the containment vessel.
Fukushima Daiichi lost its key cooling systems during a 2011 earthquake and tsunami, causing meltdowns in its three reactors. An estimated 880 tons of fatally radioactive melted fuel remains in them.
The government and TEPCO have set a 30-to-40-year target to finish the cleanup by 2051, which experts say is overly optimistic and should be updated. Some say it would take for a century or longer.
No specific plans for the full removal of the fuel debris or its final disposal have been decided.
This photo released by Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO), shows a robot, top right, clips a tiny gravel of what it believed to be melted fuel debris at the No. 2 reactor of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima, northern Japan, on Oct. 30, 3024. (Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings via AP)
A device to remove debris from a reactor at the damaged Fukushima Nuclear power plant demonstrates to pinch a stone, as revealed in Kobe, western Japan, May 28, 2024. (Kyodo News via AP, File)
FILE - Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, also known as TEPCO, the operator of Japan's wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, reveals a robot to be used to retrieve debris at the power plant in Kobe, western Japan, May 28, 2024. (Kyodo News via AP, File)
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Around 50 European leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, will be reassessing their trans-Atlantic relations in the hope that Donald Trump's second U.S. presidency will avoid the strife and political pitfalls of his first administration.
Further compounding an already complicated situation, Germany — Europe's troubled economic juggernaut — sank into political crisis after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz fired his finance minister. It raises the specter of an election in a few months and yet another standoff between the emboldened hard right and the establishment parties in Europe.
Those two combined “adds even more pepper and salt to this situation,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
But the U.S. election fallout still took center stage.
“Our relationship with the U.S. is essential and we are ready to deepen it,” European Council President Charles Michel said.
The 27 nations from the European Union bloc will be meeting in a separate summit as soon as other leaders from the United Kingdom, Turkey and the Balkans leave in the evening.
During his election campaign, Trump has threatened anything from a trade war with Europe to a withdrawal of NATO commitments and a fundamental shift of support for Ukraine in its war with Russia — all issues that could have groundbreaking consequences for nations across Europe.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the summit's host and an ardent Trump fan, said early Thursday that he already had a phone call with the incoming president overnight, announcing that “We have big plans for the future!”
So did hard-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who lauded the “deep and historic strategic partnership that has always tied Rome and Washington.”
That partnership came under constant pressure during Trump’s first term, from 2017-2021.
Trump’s administration slapped tariffs on EU steel and aluminum in 2018, based on the claim that foreign products, even if produced by American allies, were a threat to U.S. national security. Europeans and other allies retaliated with duties on U.S.-made motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans, among other items.
The impact of the U.S. election result could be felt in Europe for years to come, on issues including the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as migration and climate change.
Among the leaders due to attend on Thursday is Zelenskyy, who is expected to make another plea for more aid as his country fends off Moscow’s invasion. The timing is laden with significance as Trump has vowed to end the war “within 24 hours” of being elected — something leaders in Kyiv interpret as an impending evaporation of U.S. support following Trump's win.
Serbia's President Aleksander Vucic speaks with the media as he arrives for the European Political Community (EPC) Summit at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr Josek)
Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Denis Becirovic, center, arrives for the European Political Community (EPC) Summit at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr Josek)
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola arrives for the European Political Community (EPC) Summit at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr Josek)
Kosovo's President Vjosa Osmani arrives for the European Political Community (EPC) Summit at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr Josek)
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte arrives for the European Political Community (EPC) Summit at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr Josek)
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, left, welcomes Moldova's President Maia Sandu during arrivals for the European Political Community (EPC) Summit at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr Josek)
Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama, right, speaks with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, center, as he arrives for the European Political Community (EPC) Summit at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr Josek)
