First of four Fukushima reactors cleared of nuclear fuel

[think]

First of four Fukushima reactors cleared of nuclear fuel

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE / 20 DEC 2014 AT 09:04 ET

One of four heavily damaged reactor buildings at Japan’s tsunami-battered Fukushima nuclear power plant has been cleared of radioactive fuel rods, the operator said Saturday.

It was a significant step in the decommissioning efforts, but workers still have three heavily crippled reactors to clean up after they were sent into meltdown in the 2011 quake-tsunami disaster.

The overall cleanup work of the Fukushima plant is expected to take decades.

A total of 1,535 fuel rod assemblies have been now taken out of the building after Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s (TEPCO’s) yearlong operation, a company spokesman said....

Rest of article:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/12/first-of-four-fukushima-reactors-cleared-of-nuclear-fuel/

[SidDithers]

1. DU rec...

Good news.

Sid

[think]

5. Yes, very good news.

Happy Holidays.

[FLPanhandle]

2. and where did they put the fuel rods?

"Oh, we just dumped them into the ocean. Problem solved."

[think]

6. Not sure. They say they are storing the fuel rods in another spent-fuel pool at another location.

But hopefully it's a better location than where they were on the 2nd floor of a damaged reactor building in an area prone to earthquakes

Hirose made the comments in a meeting with assembly members from Fukushima Prefecture. Hazardous work to transfer the rods from reactor 4 to a spent-fuel pool at another location has been going more quickly than expected, he told reporters after the meeting.

Full article:

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/08/21/national/tepco-to-finish-removal-of-fukushima-fuel-rods-ahead-of-schedule-president/#.VJWVUF4C3A

[FBaggins]

7. In the common fuel pool on-site.

Eventually to be moved to dry-cask storage

[NuclearDem]

3. Nice to see progress being made.

[MineralMan]

4. It's really good to see that there is progress

toward cleaning up the site of this disastrous situation. Thank you for posting this.

[True Blue Door]

8. Nuclear fission has proven to be a cul-de-sac.

And such an ironic one in Japan's case.