Tepco Moves Deformed Fuel Units From Reactor Pool
The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that was crippled after a major earthquake and tsunami in 2011 has removed four deformed nuclear fuel assemblies from the storage pool of the No.3 reactor building. The job is part of efforts to decommission the plant.
Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, says it began work to remove the four units this month and completed it this week.
The utility performed the task with equipment it jointly developed with a private-sector firm.
The machine has a specially designed holder to grip and lift the fuel units whose upper handles were severely mangled when building parts fell and hit them during the 2011 accident.
TEPCO says the four units slightly tilted while being lifted from the pool, but their removal ended without safety issues.
In April 2019, TEPCO started to transfer all 566 unused and spent fuel units, including the four deformed assemblies, from the pool to a safe facility in the plant's compound.
TEPCO is hoping to remove all 22 units currently left in the pool by the end of next month.