April 15 (UPI) -- Electric authorities began removing spent fuel rods Monday from the damaged reactor at Japan's Fukushima power station, eight years after its core melted down in one of the world's worst nuclear accidents.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. began using a remotely guided robotic arm to remove the rods from the storage pool, where they've been since the 2011 accident. Monday marked the beginning of the utility's mission to remove a total of 566 nuclear fuel assemblies. The entire process is expected to last two years.