TOKYO (AP) — A giant crane removed two rods packed with nuclear fuel from the Fukushima nuclear plant today, the beginning of a delicate and long process to reduce the risk of more radiation escaping from the disaster struck plant.
All of the 1,535 rods in a spent-fuel pool next to reactor No. 4 at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in northeastern Japan must eventually be moved to safer storage — an effort expected to take until the end of next year, according to the government.
The building containing the pool and reactor was destroyed by an explosion following the failure of cooling systems after a massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. The cores of three reactors melted.
Fears run deep about the large amounts of radioactive material stored in the pool, which unlike fuel in the cores of the reactors is not protected by thick containment vessels. The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., intends to remove all the rods to eliminate the risk of the pool spewing radiation.
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