Captain's Quarters

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Tepco: Nuclear Fuel Rod Removal Has Begun

The extremely dangerous job of removing over 1500 nuclear fuel rods has begun.

OKUMA, JAPAN – NOVEMBER 18: In this handout image provided by Tokyo Electric Power Co, workers remove nuclear fuel rods from a pool at No. 4 reactor of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on November 18, 2013 in Okuma, Fukushima, Japan. TEPCO started removing nuclear fuel from a damaged reactor building for the first time, marking a new stage in the decades-long decommissioning process. The operation to empty the storage pool in the No. 4 reactor building, which holds 1,533 nuclear fuel assemblies, began and expected to be removed by December 2014. But the overall decommissioning work at the stricken nuclear plant is expected to take 30 to 40 years to complete. (Photo by Tokyo Electric Power Co via Getty Images)



OKUMA (INTELLIHUB) — Tensions rise at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Tuesday, as workers are pushing forward with the removal of fuel rods from the crippled No. 4 reactor at the Tepco facility.

The plant’s operator plans to remove over 1500 fuel rods in 22 different assemblies by the end of tomorrow.

This operation is considered extremely dangerous and the most significant to date. Bloomberg.com reported, “Were the rods to break or overheat, it could prompt a self-sustained nuclear chain reaction similar to the meltdowns at three Fukushima reactors following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.”[1]

An inspector from Japan’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority will be in charge of the operation.

The removal of the fuel rods is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2014.

“Tepco has been widely criticized for its mismanagement of the crisis at the nuclear power plant, which was hit by a giant tsunami triggered by an earthquake in March 2011, which ravaged the facility and damaged its back-up generators and cooling system. A power-supply failure damaged the reactors at Unit 1, Unit 2 and Unit 3, leading to their partial meltdown.”,

http://intellihub.com/2013/11/19/tepco-nuclear-fuel-rod-removal-has-begun/