Workers started removing radioactive fuel rods from a reactor building at the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant on Monday, plant owner Tokyo Electric Power Co. said. The painstaking and risky task is a crucial first step toward a full cleanup of the earthquake- and tsunami-damaged plant in northeastern Japan. The removal of the rods is the most difficult and dangerous process undertaken since runaway reactors were brought under control two years ago, after being hit by an earthquake and tsunami that claimed nearly 16,000 lives. The rod removal follows months of setbacks and glitches that have stoked widespread criticism of the utility’s handling of the crisis, the worst nuclear accident in decades. The Unit 4 reactor was offline at the time of the March 2011 disaster, and its core did not melt as Units 1 through 3 did. But hydrogen explosions blew out the roof and walls of the Unit […]