The process of decommissioning the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima, Japan has cleared a major milestone with the commencement of the removal of the highly radioactive spent fuel rods from the interior of the plant.

The removal operation is a highly precise and tedious operation that is expected to take an entire year to complete. There are valid concerns about debris that was sent flying into the cooling pool the rods are sitting in, due to the reactor's explosion and meltdown, and discussions about how to handle the operation are ongoing. Any slip-ups in the removal process could quickly snowball and even minor mishaps will create considerable delays to the already long and complicated decommissioning.

TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) carried out tests on the fuel rod containers, in order to avoid any problems that may arise while removal is being done. If there were to be a rupture of the containment units due to another earthquake for example, the perimeter of the plant could be exposed to as much as 5.3 sieverts of radiation, according to TEPCO. Japan's Agency for Natural Resources and Energy commented on the estimate, saying that it will not have a big effect on the surrounding area.

--------------------------------------------------------

TomoNews is your daily source for top animated news. We've combined animation and video footage with a snarky personality to bring you the biggest and best stories from around the world.

For news that's fun and never boring, visit our channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/TomoNewsUS

Subscribe to stay updated on all the top stories:
http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=TomoNewsUS

Stay connected with us here:
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TomoNewsUS
Twitter @tomonewsus http://www.twitter.com/TomoNewsUS
Google+ http://gplus.to/TomoNewsUS