1.   An underwater video shows the fuel assembly inching up, then swinging free.

2.   Earlier Wednesday, technicians placed two additional metal straps around the fuel assembly to give it greater support.

3.   That schedule still could be met if the fuel assembly can be removed today, Stewart said.

4.   Bailey said another attempt to remove the fuel assembly will be made late Monday or Tuesday.

5.   A highly radioactive fuel assembly stuck for nearly two weeks in a reactor at Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station is expected to be delicately lifted free today.

6.   Each spent fuel assembly is made up of pencil-thick metal rods filled with eraser-sized pellets of waste.

7.   Grae said he hoped the Nuclear Regulatory Commission would approve the thorium fuel assembly for use in U.S. nuclear reactors in three to four years.

8.   Remote-control hydraulic jacks have lifted the fuel assembly slightly, but officials now are concerned about excessive pressure on the fuel bundle.