Eerie new drone footage has for the first time revealed the extent of the damage to the Fukushima nuclear power plant 13 years on from its meltdown.
The plant's operators, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, or TEPCO, released 12 photos from inside the site, which are the first ever images from inside the main structural support called the pedestal in the hardest-hit reactor's primary containment vessel, an area directly under the reactor's core.
Officials had long hoped to reach the area to examine the core and melted nuclear fuel which dripped there when the plant's cooling systems were damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
The high-definition color images captured by the drones show brown objects with various shapes and sizes dangling from various locations in the pedestal.
Parts of the control-rod drive mechanism, which controls the nuclear chain reaction, and other equipment attached to the core were dislodged by the drones.
The Fukushima disaster was one of the world's most devastating nuclear mishaps
The plant's operators, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, or TEPCO, released 12 photos from inside the site
Officials had long hoped to reach the area to examine the core and melted nuclear fuel which dripped there
TEPCO officials said they were unable to tell from the images whether the dangling lumps were melted fuel or melted equipment without obtaining other data such as radiation levels
READ MORE: Inside Japan's secretive death chambers where their worst criminals are hanged
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TEPCO officials said they were unable to tell from the images whether the dangling lumps were melted fuel or melted equipment without obtaining other data such as radiation levels.
The drones did not carry dosimeters to measure radiation because they had to be lightweight and maneuverable.
About 880 tons of highly radioactive melted nuclear fuel remain inside the three damaged reactors.
TEPCO is attempting to learn more about its location and condition to facilitate its removal so the plant can be decommissioned.
The drone cameras could not see the bottom of the reactor core, in part because of the darkness of the containment vessel, officials said.
Information from the probe could help future investigations of the melted debris which are key to developing technologies and robots for its removal, they said.
The high-definition color images captured by the drones show brown objects with various shapes and sizes dangling from various locations in the pedestal
The drones did not carry dosimeters to measure radiation because they had to be lightweight and maneuverable
About 880 tons of highly radioactive melted nuclear fuel remain inside the three damaged reactors
TEPCO is attempting to learn more about its location and condition to facilitate its removal so the plant can be decommissioned
READ MORE: Inventor of the karaoke machine Shigeichi Negishi dies aged 100: Electronics expert came up with the idea after he was mocked for his singing
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But the large amount that remains unknown about the interior of the reactors suggests how difficult it will be. Critics say the 30-40 year target for the plant's cleanup set by the government and TEPCO is overly optimistic.
The daunting decommissioning process has already been delayed for years by technical hurdles and the lack of data.
The Fukushima disaster was one of the world's most devastating nuclear mishaps.
It followed a 9.0 magnitude earthquake off the eastern coast of Japan, one of the most powerful ever recorded in Japan.
The quake was so powerful that it shifted the Earth off its axis, and triggered a massive tsunami that swept over Japan's main island of Honshu.
The drone cameras could not see the bottom of the reactor core, in part because of the darkness of the containment vessel, officials said
Information from the probe could help future investigations of the melted debris which are key to developing technologies and robots for its removal
The Fukushima disaster followed a 9.0 magnitude earthquake off the eastern coast of Japan, one of the most powerful ever recorded in Japan
To this day, the exclusion remains in place and almost all of the displaced residents have not yet returned
The nuclear disaster was classified as a Level Seven event by the International Atomic Energy Agency
The destruction wrought by the tsunami alone killed 18,000 people.
The water from the deadly tsunami easily overcame coastal defences for Fukushima and flooded the reactor, causing it to melt down.
As more and more radiation leaked from the plant, more than 150,000 people were forced to evacuate from the surrounding area.
To this day, the exclusion remains in place and almost all of the displaced residents have not yet returned.
Authorities in Japan believe it will take up to 40 years to decontaminate the area.
The nuclear disaster was classified as a Level Seven event by the International Atomic Energy Agency, only the second event since Chernobyl's fourth reactor went into meltdown in 1986.
The plant's operators, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, or TEPCO, released 12 photos from inside the site, which are the first ever images from inside the main structural support called the pedestal in the hardest-hit reactor's primary containment vessel, an area directly under the reactor's core.
Officials had long hoped to reach the area to examine the core and melted nuclear fuel which dripped there when the plant's cooling systems were damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
The high-definition color images captured by the drones show brown objects with various shapes and sizes dangling from various locations in the pedestal.
Parts of the control-rod drive mechanism, which controls the nuclear chain reaction, and other equipment attached to the core were dislodged by the drones.
The Fukushima disaster was one of the world's most devastating nuclear mishaps
The plant's operators, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, or TEPCO, released 12 photos from inside the site
Officials had long hoped to reach the area to examine the core and melted nuclear fuel which dripped there
TEPCO officials said they were unable to tell from the images whether the dangling lumps were melted fuel or melted equipment without obtaining other data such as radiation levels
READ MORE: Inside Japan's secretive death chambers where their worst criminals are hanged
Advertisement
TEPCO officials said they were unable to tell from the images whether the dangling lumps were melted fuel or melted equipment without obtaining other data such as radiation levels.
The drones did not carry dosimeters to measure radiation because they had to be lightweight and maneuverable.
About 880 tons of highly radioactive melted nuclear fuel remain inside the three damaged reactors.
TEPCO is attempting to learn more about its location and condition to facilitate its removal so the plant can be decommissioned.
The drone cameras could not see the bottom of the reactor core, in part because of the darkness of the containment vessel, officials said.
Information from the probe could help future investigations of the melted debris which are key to developing technologies and robots for its removal, they said.
The high-definition color images captured by the drones show brown objects with various shapes and sizes dangling from various locations in the pedestal
The drones did not carry dosimeters to measure radiation because they had to be lightweight and maneuverable
About 880 tons of highly radioactive melted nuclear fuel remain inside the three damaged reactors
TEPCO is attempting to learn more about its location and condition to facilitate its removal so the plant can be decommissioned
READ MORE: Inventor of the karaoke machine Shigeichi Negishi dies aged 100: Electronics expert came up with the idea after he was mocked for his singing
Advertisement
But the large amount that remains unknown about the interior of the reactors suggests how difficult it will be. Critics say the 30-40 year target for the plant's cleanup set by the government and TEPCO is overly optimistic.
The daunting decommissioning process has already been delayed for years by technical hurdles and the lack of data.
The Fukushima disaster was one of the world's most devastating nuclear mishaps.
It followed a 9.0 magnitude earthquake off the eastern coast of Japan, one of the most powerful ever recorded in Japan.
The quake was so powerful that it shifted the Earth off its axis, and triggered a massive tsunami that swept over Japan's main island of Honshu.
The drone cameras could not see the bottom of the reactor core, in part because of the darkness of the containment vessel, officials said
Information from the probe could help future investigations of the melted debris which are key to developing technologies and robots for its removal
The Fukushima disaster followed a 9.0 magnitude earthquake off the eastern coast of Japan, one of the most powerful ever recorded in Japan
To this day, the exclusion remains in place and almost all of the displaced residents have not yet returned
The nuclear disaster was classified as a Level Seven event by the International Atomic Energy Agency
The destruction wrought by the tsunami alone killed 18,000 people.
The water from the deadly tsunami easily overcame coastal defences for Fukushima and flooded the reactor, causing it to melt down.
As more and more radiation leaked from the plant, more than 150,000 people were forced to evacuate from the surrounding area.
To this day, the exclusion remains in place and almost all of the displaced residents have not yet returned.
Authorities in Japan believe it will take up to 40 years to decontaminate the area.
The nuclear disaster was classified as a Level Seven event by the International Atomic Energy Agency, only the second event since Chernobyl's fourth reactor went into meltdown in 1986.