Fukushima operators set to remove fuel rods at nuclear

plant
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Operators begin procedure to remove spent fuel from crippled Fukushima nuclear plant
TEPCO will begin taking out 1,500 spent fuel units from Reactor 4 for storage
Plant damaged by the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011
Cleanup beset by numerous problems, including the leak of 300 tons of radioactive water
(CNN) -- Operators of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan have started the dangerous
task of removing fuel rods from a damaged reactor, the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said
Monday.
The procedure is considered a milestone in the estimated $50 billion cleanup operation more than
two years after a massive earthquake and tsunami brought disaster to the facility.
When the tsunami swamped the plant, located 149 miles (240 kilometers) north of Tokyo on Japan's
eastern seaboard in March 2011, it cut the power to vital cooling systems for the three reactors in
use at the time. This resulted in the second-worst nuclear accident in history -- after Chernobyl in
the former Soviet Union in 1986 -- as the reactors melted down and leaked radioactive material into
the atmosphere.
On Monday, TEPCO revealed "preparatory work" was underway, with a remote-controlled crane
lowered inside Reactor 4. Some 1,500 spent fuel units will then be lifted from the cooling pool in
specially-designed containers, or casks, and closed with a lid. Following decontamination, these
casks will be taken down to ground level and transported to the common spent fuel pool on a trailer.
The entire removal of all fuel inside the Unit 4 spent fuel pool is expected to take until the end of
2014, TEPCO says.
'Stopgap approach'
The Fukushima cleanup has been beset by numerous problems, with TEPCO frequently criticized for
its handling of the disaster. Earlier this year, Japan's Trade and Industry Minister, Toshimitsu
Motegi, compared its "stopgap approach" to a game of "Whack-a-mole." The government has since
stepped in and pledged $470 million to try to tackle the leaks, through measures, which by its own
admission are unconventional and untested.
TEPCO has been pumping huge volumes of water into the plant -- hundreds of tons daily -- to cool
the crippled reactors that once powered the plant.
But this water, which becomes highly radioactive once it comes into contact with the plant's fuel
rods, has been stored in makeshift, hastily-built storage tanks around the site -- about 1,000 so far --
containing enough irradiated water to fill about 160 Olympic-sized swimming pools, with about 400
tons added to the tanks daily.
Ongoing leaks
Scientists who monitor radiation levels offshore have pointed to evidence of an ongoing leak for
more than a year, but it was only recently that TEPCO admitted it was occurring.
Last month, TEPCO said one of the storage
tanks at the site had leaked 300 tons of
toxic water, prompting Japan's nuclear
regulator to declare the situation a Level 3
serious incident, its most serious
assessment since the 2011 meltdown.
It has since stated that several tanks and
pipes at the plant are suspected of leaking
toxic water.
Michael Friedlander, a nuclear engineer and former U.S. power plant operator, told CNN in
September that the eventual failure of the tanks years after they were deployed on a supposedly
temporary, emergency basis is illustrative of TEPCO's ad hoc, unsustainable response to the
disaster.
"Given the cards they were dealt, building a tank farm to hold the water in the heat of the
emergency, there was really there only one option, so I don't fault them for that," he said.
But beyond the emergency response, TEPCO had demonstrated no long-term vision for dealing with
the problem, he said.
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CNN's Junko Ogura in Tokyo contributed to this report.