( CNN ) -- Operators of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan have started the dangerous task of removing fuel rods from a damaged reactor , the Tokyo Electric Power Co. ( TEPCO ) said Monday . The procedure is considered a milestone in the estimated $ 50 billion cleanup operation more than two years after a massive earthquake and tsunami brought disaster to the facility . When the tsunami swamped the plant , located 149 miles ( 240 kilometers ) north of Tokyo on Japan 's eastern seaboard in March 2011 , it cut the power to vital cooling systems for the three reactors in use at the time . This resulted in the second-worst nuclear accident in history -- after Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union in 1986 -- as the reactors melted down and leaked radioactive material into the atmosphere . On Monday , TEPCO revealed `` preparatory work '' was underway , with a remote-controlled crane lowered inside Reactor 4 . Some 1,500 spent fuel units will then be lifted from the cooling pool in specially-designed containers , or casks , and closed with a lid . Following decontamination , these casks will be taken down to ground level and transported to the common spent fuel pool on a trailer . The entire removal of all fuel inside the Unit 4 spent fuel pool is expected to take until the end of 2014 , TEPCO says . 'Stopgap approach ' The Fukushima cleanup has been beset by numerous problems , with TEPCO frequently criticized for its handling of the disaster . Earlier this year , Japan 's Trade and Industry Minister , Toshimitsu Motegi , compared its `` stopgap approach '' to a game of `` Whack-a-mole . '' The government has since stepped in and pledged $ 470 million to try to tackle the leaks , through measures , which by its own admission are unconventional and untested . TEPCO has been pumping huge volumes of water into the plant -- hundreds of tons daily -- to cool the crippled reactors that once powered the plant . But this water , which becomes highly radioactive once it comes into contact with the plant 's fuel rods , has been stored in makeshift , hastily-built storage tanks around the site -- about 1,000 so far -- containing enough irradiated water to fill about 160 Olympic-sized swimming pools , with about 400 tons added to the tanks daily . Ongoing leaks . Scientists who monitor radiation levels offshore have pointed to evidence of an ongoing leak for more than a year , but it was only recently that TEPCO admitted it was occurring . Last month , TEPCO said one of the storage tanks at the site had leaked 300 tons of toxic water , prompting Japan 's nuclear regulator to declare the situation a Level 3 serious incident , its most serious assessment since the 2011 meltdown . It has since stated that several tanks and pipes at the plant are suspected of leaking toxic water . Michael Friedlander , a nuclear engineer and former U.S. power plant operator , told CNN in September that the eventual failure of the tanks years after they were deployed on a supposedly temporary , emergency basis is illustrative of TEPCO 's ad hoc , unsustainable response to the disaster . `` Given the cards they were dealt , building a tank farm to hold the water in the heat of the emergency , there was really there only one option , so I do n't fault them for that , '' he said . But beyond the emergency response , TEPCO had demonstrated no long-term vision for dealing with the problem , he said . Fukushima 's nuclear power mess : Five big questions . Journey to the heart of Fukushima 's crippled plant . CNN 's Junko Ogura in Tokyo contributed to this report .
Operators begin procedure to remove spent fuel from crippled Fukushima nuclear plant . TEPCO will begin taking out 1,500 spent fuel units from Reactor 4 for storage . Plant damaged by the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011 . Cleanup beset by numerous problems , including the leak of 300 tons of radioactive water .