Fukushima nuclear plant operators prepare for dangerous procedure

The operator of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant is making final preparations before starting the most delicate and dangerous procedure attempted at the plant since three reactors were wrecked in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Engineers from Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) need to remove 1,533 rods of highly irradiated spent fuel from the damaged storage pool alongside the Number 4 reactor without exposing them to the air. The rods must then be carefully transported to a safer location for longer-term storage.

The 18-month project is due to start in early November.

Nothing remotely similar has been attempted before and while everyone - nuclear experts, government officials, environmental groups and the public - agrees that the rods must be moved to more secure storage, it is feared that any error of judgment could lead to a massive release of radiation into the atmosphere.

Tepco says the building surrounding the reactor has been reinforced and a crane has been constructed that will be used to lift the rods from the pool - which is 30 metres above the ground - and lower them to the ground.

Unit 4 at the plant contains an alarming 10 times as much caesium-137 as was at Chernobyl, experts say.