Japanese energy firm TEPCO said it reached a milestone in the clean-up of the Fukushima power plant, by removing all of the radioactive fuel rods from one of its reactors.

The reactor is one of four badly damaged by a deadly earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.

Over the weekend, the last four of 1,553 fuel assemblies were taken out of a cooling pool at the building which houses Fukushima’s No.4 reactor.

Akira Ono, head of the nuclear plant said: “Although this is a milestone, reactor decommissioning work will continue,” reported The Japan Times.