Debris clearance at Fukushima

30 January 2014

A series of photographs showing progress in the removal of tsunami debris from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant has been released by Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco).

The first tsunami waves breached sea defences at Fukushima Daiichi about one hour after the magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck on 11 March 2011. Later waves completely overwhelmed the power plant's sea front, carrying debris including cars into the site.

While debris was quickly cleared from roads and paths to allow workers to access the site to help in stabilizing the damaged reactors, much of the debris remained untouched.

Tepco's latest photos show how the removal of debris - including cars, trucks and building materials - was successfully completed in some areas of the plant adjacent to the sea.

Fukushima Daiichi debris clearance 1 before 250 (Tepco)Fukushina Daiichi debris clearance 1 after 250 (Tepco)
Fukushima Daiichi debris clearance 2 before 250 (Tepco)Fukushima Daiichi debris clearance 2 after 250 (Tepco)
Fukushima Daiichi debris clearance 3 before 250 (Tepco)Fukushima Daiichi debris clearance 3 after 250 (Tepco)
FFukushima Daiichi debris clearance 4 before 250 (Tepco)Fukushima Daiichi debris clearance 4 after 250 (Tepco)
Fukushima Daiichi debris clearance 5 before 250 (Tepco)Fukushima Daiichi debris clearance 5 after 250 (Tepco)
The images on the left show debris left by the tsunami, while those on the right show the same scenes after clear-up (Images: Tepco)

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News