年度内のデブリ取り出し断念　福島第１原発、１０月に延期―東電

　福島第１原発事故で溶け落ちた２号機の核燃料（デブリ）について、東京電力は２５日、今年度中に予定していた試験的取り出しを断念し、今年１０月までの開始を目指す方針を明らかにした。デブリ取り出しの延期は３度目。
　東電福島第１廃炉推進カンパニーの小野明代表は記者会見で「見積もりが甘かったのは間違いない」と釈明。「安全最優先で作業を進め、地元の皆さんの安心につなげていきたい」と述べた。（2024/01/25-20:21）

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. has given up its plan to remove melted nuclear fuel debris from the No. 2 reactor at its disaster-crippled Fukushima No. 1 power plant on a trial basis by the March 31 end of fiscal 2023.
   The decision marked the third postponement of the trial fuel removal. TEPCO now aims to start the work by October this year, the company said Thursday.
   "There is no doubt that our plan was too optimistic," TEPCO Chief Decommissioning Officer Akira Ono told a press conference the same day. "We will put safety first in the fuel removal work in order to reassure local residents," he said.
   TEPCO planned to inject a robotic arm into a passage leading to the No. 2 reactor's containment vessel to collect several grams of fuel debris. Before that, however, it has to clear the passage of cables and other materials used before the disaster that are blocking the passage.
   The company will change the debris extraction method and now plans to introduce a telescopic device that can be used even if these items are not completely removed from the passage. Approval from the Nuclear Regulation Authority is necessary for the change.