By Anadolu staff
ISTANABUL (AA) - Nearly 15 years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japan has begun dismantling large storage tanks at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power plant to make room for the next phase of decommissioning, Kyodo News reported on Saturday.
Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. (TEPCO) is removing tanks that once stored treated radioactive water released into the Pacific Ocean starting in August 2023.
More than 1,000 tanks had been installed at the site, but officials said they were occupying valuable space needed for long-term cleanup operations.
The first dismantling work began in February 2025 in an area known as J9, where a dozen tanks were removed by September. Workers have now moved to a neighboring section, J8, where nine tanks -- each 12 meters tall and capable of holding 700 tons -- are being taken apart.
Clearing both sections will free up about 2,900 square meters.
The space will be used to construct facilities to store and process melted fuel debris from the No. 3 reactor. About 880 tons of debris remain in reactors damaged during the 2011 disaster, the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.
Full-scale debris removal at Unit 3 is now expected no earlier than 2037, reflecting ongoing technical challenges.