14 Years On: Diamond Chips Key to Fukushima Plant Decommissioning
Sapporo, March 4 (Jiji Press)--As decommissioning work at the meltdown-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan reaches a crucial stage toward removing melted nuclear debris, the spotlight has fallen on diamond semiconductors that can withstand intense nuclear radiation.
Ookuma Diamond Device Co., a startup based in the city of Sapporo in Hokkaido, northernmost Japan, has chosen the decommissioning work as an opportunity for realizing what is believed to be the world's first practical application of diamond chips.
The company aims to put diamond chips into practical use by fiscal 2026, after beginning construction of a facility to make the chips in the town of Okuma in Fukushima Prefecture, which hosts the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. plant, this month.
"It is our calling to use diamond semiconductors for decommissioning," Naohisa Hoshikawa, CEO and founder of the startup, said. "We will proceed with resolve."
Some 880 tons of nuclear debris, a mixture of melted fuel and reactor parts, is estimated to remain in the No. 1 to No. 3 reactors at the plant.
(2025/03/04-11:00)
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