Removal of Highly Radioactive Spent Fuel Begins at Unit 2 of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) said on August 17 that it has begun removing spent fuel assemblies with high radiation levels from the spent fuel pool of Unit 2 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in northeastern Japan, the site of a severe nuclear accident.

Last month, TEPCO removed 28 unused nuclear fuel assemblies from the Unit 2 spent fuel pool. Compared with spent fuel, these unused fuel assemblies pose relatively lower risks. The company plans to complete the removal of spent fuel from Unit 2 by the end of fiscal year 2028.

To date, the Unit 2 spent fuel pool contains a total of 587 spent fuel assemblies, of which TEPCO has completed the removal of 7. The removed fuel assemblies have been transferred to a safer shared fuel pool for storage within the Fukushima Daiichi site.

According to the schedule, the removal operations will be suspended from October, due to facility inspections and the need to ensure sufficient receiving capacity at the shared fuel pool.

Fuel transfer work at Unit 2 began in June this year. During the operations, spent fuel assemblies are loaded into dedicated transport containers inside the spent fuel pool using remotely controlled lifting equipment. Once loaded, the containers are lifted out of the spent fuel pool and transferred to trailers outside the reactor building, then transported to the shared fuel pool on site.