this is the Technology Report.Workers at the damaged FukushimaDaiichi nuclear plant in Japanwill soon begin one of the mostimportant periods of the clean-up efforts.They will be removing the fuel rodsfrom one of the worst-hit reactors.More than 1500 fuel rodssit in a damaged storage pool 30 metersabove ground inside the reactor 4 building.TEPCO, the Tokyo Electric Power companyowns the nuclear power station.Critics say TEPCO should not be trustedto carry out the operation.However, TEPCO General Manager Masayuki Ono saysthe operation has been carefully planned.He explains that because the reactor 4 buildingwas destroyed by a hydrogen explosion,TEPCO had to rebuild the structure.This happened during the first year,the new building he says is stronger than the old one.The hydrogen explosion left pieces of wreckageall over the inside of the pool.TEPCO's first job is to remove this debris.Then, workers will remove the fuel rods one by one,they will use a crane suspended above the building.The fuel rods must not touch each other or break.Nuclear experts warn that any accidentscould cause an explosion many times worsethan the one in March 2011.Mitsuhei Murata is Japan's former ambassador to Switzerlandand an anti-nuclear activist.He notes the problems over the past 30 months- including radioactive water leaks- have raised questions about TEPCO's abilityto carry out this operation."The Unit 4 contains 10 times more Cesium-137 than Chernobyl.So in case the worst occurs,a total withdrawal will be imposed,which means this can be considered as the beginning ofthe ultimate catastrophe of the world and the planet."Japan has called on foreign expert to assist in the operation.Hironori Nakanishi is the Director-General for Energy Policyat the government's Agency for Natural Resources and Energy."The sole responsibility in managingthe situation safely is still on TEPCO corporation.But still we are in the same boatand we have to support their activity.So in order to achieve that goalwe asked the specialists all over the world,from United States, the UK, France, Russia and Ukraine."Inspectors from Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authorityhave approved TEPCO's planned operationto remove the fuel from Reactor 4.The process is expected to begin in Novemberand to take up to 18 months to complete.And that's the Technology Report from VOA Learning English.更多听力请访问51voa.com