Tokyo Electric Power Company began on October 26 the 25th discharge of treated water from Fukushima Daiichi since 2023, the seventh and final release of fiscal year 2026, scheduled to continue until November 13. The discharge is conducted by TEPCO and overseen by the International Atomic Energy Agency. A TEPCO report dated September 18 said radiation levels in both groundwater and seawater samples were below target levels. TEPCO has said it is following a 40-year road map for decommissioning, with completion expected in 2051.

Swedish engineering company Studsvik AB will partner with Japanese nuclear decommissioning firm ReNu Industries to deploy Studsvik’s inDRUM waste treatment technology at Fukushima. ReNu plans to adapt inDRUM specifications for a waste treatment pilot plant it is developing. ReNu, established in December 2025 and headquartered in Okuma, Fukushima prefecture, was granted up to 700 million yen (about $4.4 million) through the Japanese government’s Fukushima reconstruction initiative for construction of the plant, which it expects to complete in fiscal year 2028. inDRUM treats low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste without sorting it, keeping it inside a sealed container. Studsvik says the process can reduce waste volume by up to 90 percent, depending on materials present; remaining waste can be sent for final treatment. The Atomic Energy Society of Japan’s decommissioning advisory committee estimated that without reduction measures decommissioning could produce as much as 5.6 million cubic meters of waste, according to a July 2026 Asahi Shimbun report.

Hitachi announced in October ROVs and a shape-changing robot called PMORPH for surveys, and HUMALT, which uses a flexible, hydraulic-powered arm. On October 2, the Japan Times reported that TEPCO had begun using a robotic arm to inspect the highly radioactive containment vessel of Unit 2; the article did not name the firm behind the arm’s design.