Images captured deep into the burned Fukushima reactor have surfaced, revealing devastation but also raising many unresolved issues

Images captured by tiny drones from deep below a severely damaged reactor at the Fukushima nuclear power plant reveal misaligned materials and displaced control equipment, but they also raise numerous unresolved issues that highlight how difficult it will be to decommission the facility.

The first 12 images made public by the plant’s operator show the inside of the primary containment vessel of the hardest-hit No. 1 reactor, which is located immediately underneath the reactor’s core. This support structure is known as the pedestal. After a significant earthquake and tsunami in 2011 damaged the plant’s cooling systems, melted nuclear material seeped there, and officials had long intended to visit the site to investigate the core.

Previous robot efforts failed to access the location. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, or TEPCO, concluded the two-day investigation last week using miniature drones. TEPCO published the images on Monday.

Within the three damaged reactors, almost 880 tons of highly hazardous melted nuclear fuel are still present. To make it easier to remove and allow the plant to be decommissioned, TEPCO is making an effort to gather additional information regarding its location and state.

The drones obtained high-definition color photographs of brown things hanging from different parts of the pedestal. The objects vary in size and form. Some of the equipment connected to the core and pieces of the control-rod drive system, which regulates the nuclear chain reaction, were moved.

Without other information, like as radiation levels, TEPCO officials said they could not determine from the photos if the hanging lumps were melted fuel or melted equipment. Because the drones needed to be small and agile, dosimeters for measuring radiation were not carried by them.

According to authorities, one reason the drone cameras were unable to view the bottom of the reactor core was because the containment tank was black. According to them, data from the probe might be used for melting debris examinations in the future, which are essential for creating robots and technology that would remove it.

However, the quantity of information about the reactors’ inside that is still unknown indicates how challenging it will be. The government and TEPCO-set 30–40 year timeline for the plant’s cleanup is criticized for being too optimistic.

Technical difficulties and a lack of data have already caused years of delays in the arduous decommissioning procedure.