Preparations to begin the potentially catastrophic decommissioning of the crippled Reactor 4 at the Fukushima nuclear power plant will begin this week with a test run.
The test, which could push back the beginning stages of fuel rod removal by two weeks, includes moving a “protective fuel cask” into and out of the No. 4 storage pool with a crane—before attempts are made to move the spent fuel rods, the Japan Times reports.
Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority gave the final go-ahead last week for TEPCO to begin the decommissioning process, the entirety of which watchdogs say could take decades.
The most dangerous step in the process will include the removal of the 1300 “bent, damaged and embrittled” spent fuel rods from the unstable Unit 4 pool. The fuel rod removal, which has never been done before on this scale, could take up to one year, and has been described by anti-nuclear expert and activist Harvey Wasserman as “humankind’s most dangerous moment since the Cuban Missile Crisis.”
While the fuel removal at reactor 4 presents possible dangers, there is also urgency to complete the task. Natural disasters such as earthquakes remain a major threat to the stability the damaged building, and should it be damaged further before it is decommissioned, there could be a global catastrophe, many experts have warned.
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