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From VOA Learning English, |
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this is the Technology Report. |
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Workers at the damaged Fukushima |
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Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan |
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will soon begin one of the most |
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important periods of the clean-up efforts. |
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They will be removing the fuel rods |
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from one of the worst-hit reactors. |
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More than 1500 fuel rods |
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sit in a damaged storage pool 30 meters |
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above ground inside the reactor 4 building. |
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TEPCO, the Tokyo Electric Power company |
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owns the nuclear power station. |
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Critics say TEPCO should not be trusted |
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to carry out the operation. |
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However, TEPCO General Manager Masayuki Ono says |
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the operation has been carefully planned. |
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He explains that because the reactor 4 building |
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was destroyed by a hydrogen explosion, |
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TEPCO had to rebuild the structure. |
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This happened during the first year, |
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the new building he says is stronger than the old one. |
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The hydrogen explosion left pieces of wreckage |
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all over the inside of the pool. |
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TEPCO's first job is to remove this debris. |
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Then, workers will remove the fuel rods one by one, |
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they will use a crane suspended above the building. |
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The fuel rods must not touch each other or break. |
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Nuclear experts warn that any accidents |
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could cause an explosion many times worse |
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than the one in March 2011. |
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Mitsuhei Murata is Japan's former ambassador to Switzerland |
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and an anti-nuclear activist. |
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He notes the problems over the past 30 months |
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- including radioactive water leaks |
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- have raised questions about TEPCO's ability |
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to carry out this operation. |
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"The Unit 4 contains 10 times more Cesium-137 than Chernobyl. |
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So in case the worst occurs, |
| [02:37.20]a total withdrawal [from the site] |
will be imposed, |
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which means this can be considered as the beginning of |
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the ultimate catastrophe of the world and the planet." |
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Japan has called on foreign expert to assist in the operation. |
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Hironori Nakanishi is the Director-General for Energy Policy |
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at the government's Agency for Natural Resources and Energy. |
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"The sole responsibility in managing |
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the situation safely is still on TEPCO corporation. |
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But still we are in the same boat |
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and we have to support their activity. |
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So in order to achieve that goal |
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we asked the specialists all over the world, |
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from United States, the UK, France, Russia and Ukraine." |
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Inspectors from Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority |
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have approved TEPCO's planned operation |
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to remove the fuel from Reactor 4. |
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The process is expected to begin in November |
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and to take up to 18 months to complete. |
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And that's the Technology Report from VOA Learning English. |