Workers remove nuclear fuel from Fukushima plant

Workers at Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant removed nuclear fuel on Wednesday for the first time since last year’s tsunami-sparked crisis, media said.

Television footage showed dozens of operatives, all wearing white protection suits, atop the heavily damaged building at unit No. 4, extracting a fuel rod with a crane. The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said earlier the operation was planned for some time this month. The company said two rods, each measuring around four metres, are to be taken out of the fuel pool.

Wednesday’s operation was the first time TEPCO has been able to remove any nuclear material since disaster struck at the plant in March 2011. Reactors No 1, 2 and 3 all melted down, but reactor No. 4 was empty when the tsunami crashed ashore. However, a disabled cooling system led to the fuel pool-where both used and unused fuel was kept-boiling. That resulted in an explosion after a build up of hydrogen inside the reactor building.