Fuel removal at Fukushima reactor going smoothly: workers

Fukushima – An operation to remove fuel from the building for the No. 2 reactor at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings’ (Tepco) disaster-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan is progressing smoothly thanks to thorough preparations, workers in charge of the mission have said.

Tepco began in June to take nuclear fuel from the storage pool of the No. 2 reactor using remote-controlled equipment. The power station in Fukushima Prefecture was heavily damaged in the March 2011 major earthquake and tsunami, and is being decommissioned.

Unlike the No. 1 and No. 3 reactors, the No. 2 unit did not experience a hydrogen explosion and therefore suffered no major damage to the building housing the reactor, but radiation levels around the spent fuel pool have been high.

An opening was made in the wall of the reactor building, and workers use specialized remote-controlled equipment consisting of three cranes to place fuel assemblies removed from the pool into a container called a cask, which is then taken out through the opening.

A worker who is from a company cooperating with the plant decommissioning and responsible for loading the fuel into the casks told reporters that workers had repeatedly practiced beforehand using mock fuel assemblies that were almost identical with real assemblies in shape and weight.

“We have been able to carry out the work safely by drawing on our experience,” the worker said.

According to Tepco, the length of the crane arms is adjusted by a few millimeters. An official of the power supplier said it takes less than an hour to remove each fuel assembly, adding, “We want to complete the mission by communicating with each other closely and steadily carrying out each task.”

Of the 615 fuel assemblies in the pool, including ones that have yet to be used, 126 have been removed so far.

The removal work has been suspended since Oct. 19 for equipment inspections and to secure a sufficient space in the plant’s common storage pool, to which the removed fuel is transferred.

Tepco plans to resume the operation around spring next year, aiming to complete the work by the end of fiscal 2028.