Since we only report 'bad news' here in America, here's an update from the euro news zone ...
Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant begins risky fuel rod removal (with Video)
euronews.com -- 11/18/2013
[...]
The first stage will see 22 of the 4.5 metre long tubes removed over two days and placed in a common pool with a cooling system. [There are more than 1,500 such assemblies in the pool.]
The casks must remain watertight during the operation and have no contact with air.
An American expert taken on by the operator, Lake Barrett, said he was confident Tepco would do a good job.
But several other engineers, both Japanese and foreign, have warned that any errors during the process could have grave consequences, such as sudden leaks of radioactive material.
[...]
Hope no one sneezes during those tricky crane assembly-swapping maneuvers ...
Nothing to see here ...
Fukushima operator starts dangerous fuel-rod removal
by Kyoko Hasegawa, AFP -- 11/18/2013
[...]
The huge crane, with a remote-controlled grabber, is being lowered into the pool and then hooked onto the assemblies, placing them inside a fully immersed cask.
The 91-tonne cask will then be hauled from the pool to be loaded onto a trailer and taken to a different storage pool about 100 metres (yards) away.
Experts have warned that slip-ups could trigger a rapid deterioration in the situation.
"We are concerned that TEPCO may not be capable of conducting this risky operation safely," Greenpeace said Monday.
[...]
No need to fret ...
Fukushima operator gives first glimpse of fuel rod removal
Tokyo, AFP -- 11/19/2013 – 1 hour ago
[...]
But the pool was heavily damaged and left at the mercy of earthquakes, storms or another tsunami.
The fuel assemblies needed to be kept in a more stable facility, but experts have warned that slip-ups in the removal operation could trigger a rapid deterioration in the situation.
[...]
The work that began Monday pales in comparison with the much more complex task that awaits engineers, who will have to remove the misshapen cores of three other reactors that went into meltdown.
Those'll be a piece of mis-shapened cake!
Just slice and dice em, and dish out the left overs.
No problem, they got this ... Just don't watch too closely.
Link to Video of those those tricky crane assembly-swapping maneuvers ... for the assemblies that aren't yet melted into a molten pile.
EZ PZ Nuclear Squeezy.