Feb 22 (NHK) - Workers at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have finished installing a new roof covering for the No.3 reactor building.
The work started last August to set up a dome-shaped cover. It is part of preparations for removing nuclear fuel from the reactor's storage pool. A total of 566 spent and unused fuel units remain in the storage pool of the No. 3 reactor.
On Wednesday, workers installed the last part of the cover, which is 17 meters high and 22 meters wide, and weighs 55 tons.
The cover will prevent radioactive materials from spreading, and shield the building from winds.
Reactors at the Fukushima plant suffered meltdowns after a quake-triggered tsunami hit the plant on March 11th, 2011. The fuel units left in storage pools need to be removed as part of decommission work at the plant.
The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, will clear the pool of rubble and provide workers with training on remotely handling devices for the fuel removal.
Then, it plans to start removing nuclear fuel units from the No.3 reactor's storage pool in autumn this year, ahead of those of other damaged reactors.
Source: ANNnewsCH
