TEPCO to conduct test for Fukushima No. 4 unit fuel removal

OKUMA, Japan - Photo shows the cooling pool for spent nuclear fuel in the No. 4 reactor building of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in the town of Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, on Nov. 6, 2013. Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. invited journalists to the site ahead of the removal of nuclear fuel from the pool, expected to start later in the month. (Pool photo)(Kyodo)

TOKYO, Nov. 5 Kyodo

     Tokyo Electric Power Co. will conduct a test for nuclear fuel removal at the No. 4 reactor building at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi power plant, delaying the start of the actual fuel removal operation by up to two weeks, sources close to the matter said Monday.
     The operator of the plant, crippled in the March 2011 quake and tsunami disaster, planned to start removing nuclear fuel from a cooling pool at the reactor building as early as next Friday.
     The decision comes after a government-affiliated nuclear safety agency called for an initial test operation, including transporting a protective fuel cask from the storage pool to another pool in a different building about 100 meters away for more stable conditions for cooling spent fuel, the sources said.

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