Crews 'Facing 100-Year Battle' at Fukushima

ABC News Australia ^ | 4/01/2011 | David Mark, Mark Willacy, staff

[ex-Texan]

A nuclear expert has warned that it might be 100 years before melting fuel rods can be safely removed from Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant.

The warning came as levels of radioactive iodine flushed into the sea near the plant spiked to a new high and the Wall Street Journal said it had obtained disaster response blueprints which said the plant's operators were woefully unprepared for the scale of the disaster.

Water is still being poured into the damaged reactors to cool melting fuel rods.

But one expert says the radiation leaks will be ongoing and it could take 50 to 100 years before the nuclear fuel rods have completely cooled and been removed.

"As the water leaks out, you keep on pouring water in, so this leak will go on for ever," said Dr John Price, a former member of the Safety Policy Unit at the UK's National Nuclear Corporation.

"There has to be some way of dealing with it. The water is connecting in tunnels and concrete-lined pits at the moment and the question is whether they can pump it back.

"The final thing is that the reactors will have to be closed and the fuel removed, and that is 50 to 100 years away.

"It means that the workers and the site will have to be intensely controlled for a very long period of time."

But Laurence Williams, Professor of Nuclear Safety at England's University of Central Lancashire and the former head nuclear regulator for the UK, is relatively comfortable with the situation.

"I have been monitoring it for the last couple of weeks and [the] three reactors seem to be more or less unchanged from initially when they got into the seawater flowing into them," he said.

"We don't know exactly the state of the fuel in those reactors but looking at the data, the pressures and temperatures look fairly stable over the last couple of weeks.

"My view is that as there hasn't been any sort of major catastrophic release of radioactivity, if they can continue to get the fresh water into the reactors and cool them, the decay heat is now fairly stabilising.

"It will take some time before it disappears but so far, so good. But it will take some time to bring under control."

Both experts agree capping the damaged reactors with concrete is not an option.

Meanwhile the Wall Street Journal says it has obtained disaster-readiness plans which show the facility only had one satellite phone and a single stretcher in case of an accident.

The blueprints also provided no detail about the possibility of using firefighters from Tokyo or national troops - both of which have been part of the response to the Fukushima crisis - to deal with any disaster.

Levels of radioactive iodine-131 in the Pacific off the plant have been recorded at a new high of 4,385 times the legal limit.

In 2002, the plant's operator TEPCO admitted to falsifying safety reports, leading to all of its 17 boiling water reactors being shut down for inspection.

TEPCO has already vowed to dismantle the four reactors at the centre of the world's worst atomic accident in 25 years, but now Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan says the Fukushima plant must be scrapped.

[Toddsterpatriot]

Please point out the exposed core in this picture. Thanks.

[STD]

Total BS brought to you by George Soros & Co.

[CharlesWayneCT]

If you have seen a diagram of the buildings, it would help. Each building is actually like two buildings. The first is a solid concrete structure, starting underground and going up several floors, at the center of which is the core of the reactor. The top of that building is the solid concrete floor of the “2nd” building. The cap for the reactor sits on this floor; there is a pool inset into the lower building, which houses the spent fuel. In this 2nd building, on top of the first, is the crane to lift the lid off the reactor (this lid is huge, greated than 20 feet in diameter); the same crane can lift fuel rods out of the core and place them in the spent fuel pond.

This 2nd building is made of metal framing, with concrete wall sections attached which can be blown off in pieces. It is a known but unwelcome possibility that this section of the building can blow up.

There is no indication that the explosions effected the lower concrete structure. In the picture you have shown, you can see a secondary square inset into the concrete floor of the 1st building (in the upper right-hand corner), that is not the fuel pond. I believe the fuel pond is in the lower left, but I’m not sure because without labels I don’t know which reactor we are looking at (the one next to it with the hole in the roof might be reactor 2).

Note that the only thing “containing” the spent fuel radiation is the water in the pool. The upper building provides provides some protection against radiation leakage, but it’s an emergency protection only, under normal conditions they don’t expect much radioactivity on the floor. Without the upper building, if they dont’ keep water on the spent fuel, they can have a major release of gas-borne radiation, and in some cases particulates (if the fuel rods get hot enough).

But re-covering the fuel rods with water should stop that leakage. Which is what they were working on last week with the water spraying, which unfortunately also would wash a lot of radioactive materials out of the rubble and into water basins. Now they have to clean the water basins, by filtering the water through the condensors, except they had a leak in one of those basins, which they are trying to fix.

At this point, they have fresh-water cooling to all reactors — that is a good thing. The temperatures on all but one look really good; I think #2 still has a rather high temperature on inlet.

[STD]

You are confusing building containment with reactor containment. It’s obvious from the photo that the buildings have been destroyed, however the reactors are buried beneath the rubble.

[Gaffer]

If you stop the influx of every Islamist 'immigrant' then you are relegated to a different morning "Hello-get your shit and get out, sir" from everyman Mohamhead clark at your local "Choke and Puke" convenience store each day.......

[ex-Texan]

Thank you CharlesWayneCT for a very cogent explanation of what is probably going on in Japan. The government is obfuscating facts, more than ever it seems to me.

According to this report, things are worse at Reactor 2 than we have been led to believe:

Emergency Cooling Effort Failing at Japanese Reactor, Deepening Crisis

Of course, that report is dated March 16th. It is NOT up to date at all.

Exceprt:

* * * Workers were having difficulty injecting seawater into the reactor because its vents — necessary to release pressure in the containment vessel by allowing radioactive steam to escape — had stopped working properly, they said.

The more time that passes with fuel rods uncovered by water and the pressure inside the containment vessel unvented, the greater the risk that the containment vessel will crack or explode, creating a potentially catastrophic release of radioactive material into the atmosphere — an accident that would be by far the worst to confront the nuclear power industry since the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant 25 years ago.

In reactor No. 2, which is now the most damaged of the three at the Daiichi plant, at least parts of the fuel rods have been exposed for several hours, which also suggests that some of the fuel has begun to melt. If more of the fuel melts before water can be injected in the vessel, the fuel pellets could burn through the bottom of the containment vessel and radioactive material could pour out that way — often referred to as a full meltdown.

"They're basically in a full-scale panic" among Japanese power industry managers, said a senior nuclear industry executive late Monday night. The executive is not involved in managing the response to the reactors' difficulties but has many contacts in Japan. "They're in total disarray, they don't know what to do." * * *

The Japanese government has been blocking information rather than being open with the world. Our own corrupt government is lying to the public. It is standard procedure for govt to do this, particularly with all the "need-to-know" and national security rules in place.

But we can surmise that the reason workers are pumping 200 tons of water per day in a feed and bleed operation -- is because water around the reactors is leaking rapidly into the environment. That is why the article above takes the position that it may take 50 + years to solve the problem.

[ex-Texan]

From Drudge today:

WORKERS FAIL TO SEAL CRACK IN NUKE REACTOR PIT

Of course, Japanese officials remain upbeat and confident they can move rapidly to solve these problems -- Yada, yada, yada -- But admitted "new setbacks were possible and it could take years to stabilise fully the plant."

[ex-Texan]

The characteristic blue glow of nuclear reactors is due to Cherenkov radiation.

Video: Flashing Blue Light Seen Above Exploded Nuclear Reactor

[ex-Texan]

More Photos of Fukushima Plants 1, 2, 3 and 4

The earlier photo was taken from another FR thread. That is apparently Plant # 3 and not # 2.

On March 14th Plant # 3 exploded with a Huge Blast

[ex-Texan]

Even More Photos of Fukushima -- This Time Close Up

And showing repair work in progress

[ex-Texan]

Rachel Maddow Does Presentation on U.S. Nuclear Safety

And says our nuke plants are, for the most part, as safe as Japan's but many are not. Take it for whatever it's worth.

[ex-Texan]

Japan Nuclear Plant to Release Radioactive Water Into the Sea !

Well, that takes care of all the fish near Japan. They will glow in the dark soon. And ruin food for the Japanese for the next 50 years.

"There is no precedent about the applicability of the natural disaster exemption and I expect TEPCO shall still probably be liable - maybe not for 100 percent of the damages but they will probably still face say 40 to 60 percent of the liability given their mismanagement in the weeks after the earthquake," said Koji Ishikawa, a partner at DLA Piper in Tokyo.

more by Koji Ishikawa

TEPCO stock is headed for the dumpster. Meanwhile, Japan's corrupt government plans to nationalize the company quick like a bunny. And hippity hop, away . . . Jerks will soon be fishing even more in American waters illegally while oceans near China are polluted with radiation.

Look for major trouble between China and Japan very soon

[Quix]

THX THX for your pings and links.

[M. Espinola]

Red China will take full advantage of the situation in Japan and it will be very anti-American.

[Ditto]

"The final thing is that the reactors will have to be closed and the fuel removed, and that is 50 to 100 years away.

All of the damaged fuel was removed from the TMI reactor about 10 years after the meltdown. The scope of damage to the building is something that we did not have to deal with at TMI, but I don't see how this guy is concluding it will take 100 years. That just seem like wild speculation.

But this will be a significantly bigger effort.

[bvw]

Let’s forget about the many tens of thousands who not only lost their houses, but their lives in the tsunami so we can better ENJOY our nuclear radiation hysterical panic, right?

I loathe folks with kick-and-spit-on-the-wounded attitudes like yours.

[bvw]

The panic and hysteria mongers promote deadly attitudes among people. The Station Night Club Fire, Warwick, RI, in February 2003 was a disaster made far worse by crowd panic. Perhaps it was an example of people trained to panic by the media and panic mongers, imo.

In that night club that night panicked people trampled each other and created a human trap in the doorway out, caught halfway out of the exit door, the news cameras caught their last moments in horror. If only ... panic did not rule them, that whole group could have made it through the door, with some burns, but alive. Panic kills.

Why panic or sow fear on discussion boards like this? It helps not. It adds to the burdens of those actually trying to make the dangerous situation better, to save lives.

This behavior -- engaging in such sport and idle pastime for their own thrills and chills -- which we see here on these FR threads -- I despise.

[bvw]

My G-d is not your god. You seem bound to a some Amalek of a god who loves spreading Fear among the weak. Are you really so desirous of End Times?

Don’t count yourself among those who might survive them — that’s just simple advice.

[Paperdoll]

>I loathe folks with kick and spit on the wounded like yours.<

To: Do the people whose homes are uninhaabitable in the reactor area get reimbursed for their terrible loss? And if so, by whom?

16 posted on Saturday, April 02, 2011 11:01:12 AM by Paperdoll ( On the cutting edge)

Just what about my post above do you hate, or are you just having a bad hair day?

[Clay Moore]

There is a video from the inside of that building at the beginning of the fire that I have seen several times during FD training exercises that does not appear to be available on You-tube etc.

Yes people did panic. Yes they did pile up at the exits. Most tried to go out the same door they entered despite the others they passed on the way.

The foam sound proofing burned and spread -shockingly- fast.

Panic was just a small part of that tragedy.