The operator of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on Wednesday said it had removed an unused nuclear fuel rod from the damaged power station for the first time since last year's disaster, according to dpa. On the same day, another company restarted a reactor at the Binuclear power plant, local media reported, the second of the country's 50 reactors to be reactivated. The building housing reactor 4 at Fukushima holds a storage pool filled with 1,535 nuclear fuel rods, including 204 unused ones. The pool has been left uncovered since a hydrogen explosion last year blew off the upper part of the outer wall of the containment building. Chie Hosoda, a spokeswoman for the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co, said Wednesday's operation would help understand the condition of other fuel rods. She declined to comment on reports that the operator planned to remove another fuel rod on Thursday. Experts warned that the spent fuel rods at reactor 4 could trigger a catastrophe despite the government's declaration in December that the plant had been brought under control. -- SPA
