A tiny grain of nuclear fuel is pulled from ruined Japanese nuclear plant, in a step toward cleanup

Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — A robot that has spent months inside the ruins of a nuclear reactor at the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi plant delivered a tiny sample of melted nuclear fuel, in what plant officials said was a step toward beginning the cleanup of hundreds of tons of melted fuel debris. The sample, the size of a grain of rice, was placed into a secure container Thursday, marking the end of the mission, according to the company that manages the plant. Plant chief Akira Ono has said it will provide key data to plan a decommissioning strategy, develop necessary technology and robots and learn how the accident had developed. An estimated 880 tons of fatally radioactive melted fuel remains inside the plant’s three reactors.