Fuel assembly removal from the Fukushima Daiichi unit 4 spent fuel pool proceeded smoothly this week, while Tokyo Electric Power Co. announced it will decommission two Fukushima reactors left largely undamaged in the 2011 crisis.
This week's news related to the TEPCO nuclear plant includes:
First Fuel Removed at Unit 4
On Monday, workers began the delicate process of removing fuel from unit 4, which was not operating at the time of the earthquake but sustained major structural damage in a hydrogen explosion. TEPCO erected a support structure abutting the reactor building that extends over its spent fuel pool, which contains all of the unit's fuel assemblies. By Thursday, TEPCO successfully removed 22 fuel assemblies from the pool using two cranes installed in the support structure. They were placed inside a submerged cask that was then lifted out of the pool and moved on a trailer to the plant's common spent fuel pool. In a release, TEPCO said it will stop the work briefly to review its procedures before resuming fuel removal, which is expected to continue through 2014.
TEPCO to Close Units 5 and 6
TEPCO, in line with the wishes of the Japanese government, announced Thursday that it will decommission Fukushima units 5 and 6, which did not experience core damage or hydrogen explosions during the crisis. Japan Today reported that TEPCO wants to use the reactors as test facilities as it works out how best to decommission the damaged units.
ALPS System Restarts
Testing has resumed on all three lines of the Advanced Liquid Processing System used to remove a wide range of radionuclides from water at Fukushima, NHK World reported. Engineers have worked to reduce corrosion in the system since a leak from a corroded tank interrupted the test program in June.