» TEPCO start removing fuel at Fukushima No.4 reactor

2013/11/07

TEPCO says it is ready to begin removing nuclear fuel assemblies from the spent fuel pool of the reactor 4 building in mid-November.

By the end of 2014, 1,533 nuclear fuel assemblies stored in the pool in the reactor building, partly destroyed by a hydrogen explosion, will be transferred to a pool in common use at another building at the plant.

The plant head said“Decommissioning work starts with fuel removal and the decommissioning has started in a real sense.”

In a process that will be repeated for about a year, 22 fuel assemblies will be placed in a container in the reactor 4 building pool and then carried to the common-use pool about 100 meters away after radioactive decontamination.

Unlike reactors 1, 2 and 3, unit 4 did not melt down. Many people, however, have voiced concern about the massive quantity of fuel stored in the damaged building.
<Media Report>
For Tepco, ‘real work’ starts now(Japan Times)

TEPCO prepares to remove nuclear fuel at Fukushima plant(Asahi Newspaper)

TEPCO to Start Removing Fuel from Fukushima No. 4 Reactor Pool (Jiji Press)

Tags:decommissioning the reactors, news, reactors, spent fuel, TEPCO

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