Japan Suspends Nuclear Fuel Removal From Fukushima Plant.

Japanese energy company Tokyo Electric Power Co. has suspended the operation to remove molten radioactive fuel from the bottom of one of the damaged reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant due to a technical malfunction, Bloomberg reports.

The company began a demonstration process for removing fuel at the Fukushima Daiichi plant last week but was forced to halt the procedure on Tuesday after two cameras on the extraction device stopped working, Nikkei reports, citing a company statement.

Technical Malfunction Halts Radioactive Fuel Extraction Process

This technical issue is the latest complication in the process of extracting molten fuel and decommissioning the plant, which will take decades and cost 23 trillion yen ($164 billion). The process was initially planned to start last month but was delayed due to a procedural error.

A robotic arm resembling a fishing rod with a claw-shaped metal gripper has been developed to collect small amounts of debris for the extraction of radioactive material.

Source: Economic Truth