Fuel transfer work begins at Fukushima Daiichi unit 2

A total of 615 fuel assemblies (587 used and 28 unused) are currently stored in unit 2's storage pool.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) completed an initial survey of Fukushima Daiichi unit 2's fuel pool using a submersible remotely-operated vehicle in June 2020. It concluded there were no obstacles to the removal of assemblies from the pool of unit 2.

Similar to the reactors at units 1 and 3, unit 2's reactor suffered a core meltdown after it temporarily lost its cooling functions, but the reactor building - which also houses the fuel storage pool - was spared a hydrogen explosion.

Tepco completed the construction of a fuel removal work platform at unit 2 in June 2024. In May 2025, fuel handling equipment was loaded onto the work platform. Installation of the fuel handling equipment was completed in March this year. Since March, Tepco has been conducting training during which the actual fuel handling equipment and onsite transport casks were used to move simulated fuel in order to repeatedly practice the fuel removal procedure.

Tepco said the first fuel assembly was lifted from a rack within the storage pool using a remotely controlled crane and loaded into a transport cask in the pool on Tuesday. Once full, the cask will subsequently be raised from the pool and lowered onto a trailer from a platform installed next to the building.

The fuel assembly is placed in a transport cask (Image: Tepco)

The company expects the process to remove all 615 assemblies to be completed in fiscal year 2028 (ending March 2029).

Tepco completed the removal of 1331 used fuel assemblies and 202 unused ones from the storage pool at the top of Fukushima Daiichi 4's heavily damaged reactor building in December 2014. Removal of the used fuel from the damaged building eliminated the largest radiological hazard at the site.

The process of removing all 566 fuel assemblies from the storage pool of unit 3 was completed in February 2021. The removal of fuel began in April 2019 after several years of work to remove debris from the reactor building service floor and preparations for this work.

The transfer of 392 fuel assemblies from the storage pool at unit 1 to the common on-site storage pool has yet to start.

The removal of 398 fuel assemblies from the undamaged unit 6 was completed in April last year, whilst the removal of 1388 assemblies from the pool of unit 5 has been under way since July.