Beginning on November 18 2013, workers at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant began removing the nuclear fuel rods from the spent fuel pool in reactor 4. The power plant was destroyed in 2011 when an earthquake and tsunami triggered three meltdowns at the nuclear power station. There was also an explosion in reactor building 4, and TEPCO has prioritized removing the spent fuel from that damaged building. The removal of the spent fuel is the first big step in the process of decommissioning the power station, a effort that will take 30 to 40 years.
