Roof completed for removal of spent fuel rods at Fukushima plant

February 21, 2018

Work was completed Feb. 21 on a half-cylinder roof designed to trap radioactive substances emitted when spent fuel rods are removed from the No. 3 reactor building at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., the plant’s operator, plans to remove the spent fuel from the building’s storage pool as early as this autumn.

Construction work on the roof–23 meters wide and 57 meters long–started in July 2017.

The final piece, weighing about 55 tons, was lifted by a crane and put into place on Feb. 21. The roof is located directly above the storage pool.

A hydrogen explosion severely damaged the original roof of the No. 3 reactor building days after the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami triggered the meltdowns at the plant.

The 566 fuel assemblies in the storage pool pose a serious risk in the event of another disaster striking the plant.

Completion of the roof should advance TEPCO’s plans to remove the fuel rods as soon as possible.

The final part of a roof is put in place on the top of the No. 3 reactor building at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant on Feb. 21.

A photo taken from an Asahi Shimbun helicopter on Feb. 21 shows the completion of work for a roof at the No. 3 reactor building of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant on Feb. 21.

The half-cylinder roof is designed to prevent radioactive substances from escaping during fuel-rod removal work in the No. 3 reactor building at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201802210037.html

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