Technology Report - Company Prepares for Risky Clean Up of Fukushima Reactor

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TEPCO	TEPCO's	VOA	Workers	after	be	begin	building	efforts	expected
experts	has	nuclear	of	out	past	rods	than	the
then	to	ultimate

at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan will soon another clean-up effort. More than 1,500 nuclear fuel rods are to removed from a damaged storage pool 30 meters above ground, inside Reactor 4 building. TEPCO, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, owns the power station. Critics say TEPCO should not be trusted to carry the operation. However, TEPCO General Manager Masayuki Ono says the operation been carefully planned. TEPCO had to rebuild the Reactor 4 building a hydrogen explosion destroyed it. TEPCO workers will first remove pieces wreckage left by the explosion. Then workers will remove the fuel one by one. They will use a crane suspended above the . The fuel rods must not touch each other or break. Nuclear warn that any accidents could cause an explosion many times worse the one in March 2011. Mitsuhei Murata is Japan's former ambassador Switzerland and an anti-nuclear activist. He notes that problems over the 30 months, including radioactive water leaks, have raised questions about TEPCO's . He says if the worst happens, and workers have to withdraw, it could be considered what he calls "the beginning of the catastrophe of the world."Japan's Agency for Natural Resources and Energy says alone is responsible for safety. But to support TEPCO, the agency sought advice from specialists around the world. Nuclear inspectors have approved plan to remove the fuel from Reactor 4. The process is to begin in November and be finished in 18 months. For Learning English, I'm Carolyn Presutti.

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