Fukushima: Danger removed from reactor No. 4 reservoir.
(Baonghean) - Recently, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) announced that its engineers have completely removed the remaining fuel rods from the reservoir of reactor number 4 at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Tepco's announcement is seen as a positive sign in resolving the Fukushima nuclear power plant incident.
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| Engineers at Tepco are removing fuel rods from the reservoir of nuclear reactor No. 4 on December 20. Photo: Pool/AFP |
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Tepco's progress has surprised many experts and been praised as outstanding, as many estimates suggest that removing the fuel rods would take more than a year. It's hard to imagine Tepco completing the work without a single mistake. One expert stated, "Tepco is fully aware of the importance of the challenges and dangers" involved in the work it is undertaking. A few months ago, Tepco's leadership told former UK nuclear authority chair Barbara Judge, "The company's management understands that safety must be the top priority." Barbara Judge is currently advising Tepco.
The work of removing the remaining spent fuel rods began in November 2013. The fuel pool of reactor number 4 contained a total of 1,533 fuel rods, of which 1,331 were spent and 202 were new. A few weeks ago, Tepco announced that it had successfully removed the spent fuel rods, leaving only the new ones. Currently, all fuel rods have been removed from the reactors damaged by the tsunami on March 11, 2011, and moved to a safer location.
Although all hazards at reactor number 4's reservoir have been eliminated, other fuel rods in reactors 1 and 3 still need to be removed. However, due to various difficulties, the removal of fuel rods from reactor number 3 cannot begin before 2015-2016 and will not be possible until 2017-2018 for the removal of fuel rods from both reactors.
The remediation efforts at the Fukushima nuclear power plant are still ongoing. According to Tepco's estimates, the remediation work at the Fukushima nuclear power plant will take at least 40 years to complete.
Chu Thanh
According to Liberation, December 21
