Much work remains to be done, particularly to retrieve the 12 elements from the defuelling machine

Bob Clayton Station manager

Twelve of the rods, which all weigh 12kg, remained in the basket and were quickly accounted for.

The other 12 dropped 50ft down a discharge shaft and were found following an inspection of the area around the reactor.

BNFL said the rods were in a shielded transport flask at the foot of the shaft - the flask was sealed and moved to nearby fuel storage ponds and the fuel elements were recovered on Tuesday night.

Work still has to be done to recover the other 12 rods which are in the shielded defuelling machine at the top of the shaft.

Speaking after the recovery of the missing 12 rods, station manager Bob Clayton said: "This is good news. However, much work remains to be done, particularly to retrieve the 12 elements from the defuelling machine.

"The station is already putting together a team of specialist engineers which will retrieve this fuel safely."

Full inquiry

BNFL said it was not known exactly when this operation would take place.

The rods are bars of uranium metal clad in an outer magnox can which are placed inside reactors as part of the nuclear fission process that generates heat and ultimately electricity.

The Health and Safety Executive's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate has been kept informed of progress.

Meanwhile, BNFL said arrangements are being made for a full inquiry into the incident "to ensure that lessons can be learned and improvements made".

The company described the incident as "low level" and said there were no signs of increased radioactivity readings following it.