N-Fuel Removal from Fukushima No. 2 Reactor Pool Begins

Tokyo, June 2 (Jiji Press)--Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. on Tuesday began removing nuclear fuel from the spent fuel pool of the No. 2 reactor at its tsunami-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan.

The work is considered a key step in the decommissioning of reactors at the plant in Fukushima Prefecture. TEPCO aims to complete the removal of all fuel assemblies from the No. 2 reactor by fiscal 2028.

The No. 2 reactor's spent fuel pool currently stores 587 spent fuel assemblies, which are highly radioactive, and 28 unused fuel assemblies, according to TEPCO. The unused fuel is being removed first because it poses a lower risk in the event of an accident.

Work began around noon, and four unused fuel assemblies were placed into a transport container called a cask over a period of about three hours.

Radiation levels at the No. 2 reactor building are still high after the nuclear fuel in the reactor melted down in the March 2011 accident. Radiation on the fifth floor, where the fuel pool is located, measures as high as 3 to 5 millisieverts per hour, making it difficult for workers to stay there for a long time.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]