TEPCO Halts Nuclear Fuel Retrieval Attempt

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) has halted the initial attempt to retrieve nuclear fuel debris from the Fukushima Daiichi plant due to errors found in the setup of the extraction device. This operation was the first of its kind since the catastrophic events of 2011, which resulted in the plant's meltdown. TEPCO has not scheduled a new date for the procedure, with plans to potentially resume as early as Friday. The retrieval aims to extract a few grams of debris from the No. 2 reactor, which has been selected due to its better-understood conditions. Meanwhile, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency has opened a facility to analyze the debris, hoping to gather crucial data for the reactors' decommissioning process. The challenges of safely removing all melted fuel remain a significant concern for TEPCO's long-term decommissioning strategy.