Workers at the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have begun removing fuel rods from a storage pool near one of the three reactors that suffered meltdowns eight years ago. The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) said on Monday that work had begun to remove the first of 566 used and unused fuel assemblies in reactor building No 3. The measure marks a milestone in efforts to decommission the plant, although the more critical removal of melted fuel from inside three damaged reactors will prove far more difficult. The fuel rods stored in unit No 3’s cooling pool were not damaged in the 2011 disaster, when a powerful earthquake and tsunami knocked out Fukushima Daiichi’s backup power supply and triggered the world’s worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl, 25 years earlier.
Guardian 15th April 2019 read more »
New York Times 15th April 2019 read more »
Tokyo Electric Power has begun removing spent nuclear fuel rods from a second building at the wrecked Fukushima plant, using remote-controlled cranes to lift hundreds of radioactive cylinders from a highly contaminated reactor site.
Reuters 15th April 2019 read more »
Daily Mail 15th April 2019 read more »
