TEPCO to Begin Removal of Nuclear Fuel Rods from Fukushima Unit 2 Next Month

Target Completion by 2028

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has announced that it will begin removing 615 nuclear fuel rods remaining in the spent fuel pool of Reactor No. 2 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant starting next month. The operation involves transferring the fuel rods, which have been cooled with temporary equipment for over 14 years since the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, to a separate cooling facility within the plant grounds.

On May 28, TEPCO stated in a press release that the removal of spent nuclear fuel from Reactor No. 2 will commence next month, with the goal of completing the process by fiscal year 2028.

Contaminated water storage tank at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

The pool of Reactor No. 2 currently contains 615 nuclear fuel rods left since the accident: 587 spent fuel rods that have already been used in the reactor and 28 unused fuel rods. These rods are currently being cooled with temporary cooling equipment.

TEPCO has decided to remove the fuel rods, noting that if any issues arise with the temporary cooling system, it could become difficult to safely cool the nuclear fuel. The fuel rods inside the pool will be extracted using a remotely operated dedicated crane and then transferred to a separate cooling facility within the plant site.

TEPCO previously removed all fuel rods from the spent fuel pool of Reactor No. 4 in 2014 and from Reactor No. 3 in 2021. Among the six reactors at the plant, Reactors 1 through 4 suffered the most severe damage in the 2011 accident. At Reactor No. 1, which still contains 392 fuel rods, removal operations are expected to begin as early as next year.

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