Posted on 09/26/2011 8:01:33 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Hydrogen accumulates in pipes at Fukushima's No. 1 reactor
September 24, 2011
By HIDENORI TSUBOYA / Staff Writer
Hydrogen has accumulated to a level higher than previously thought in pipes connected to the No. 1 reactor containment vessel at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the plant's operator said Sept. 23.
But Tokyo Electric Power Co. officials said an explosion was unlikely because nonflammable nitrogen was being pumped in to prevent oxygen from entering the containment vessel and triggering a blast. TEPCO also said the discovery of the hydrogen buildup will not affect the road map toward achieving a cold shutdown and other schedules.
TEPCO said it is investigating the possibility that hydrogen has also accumulated in a similar manner at the plant's No. 2 and No. 3 reactors.
However, the company acknowledged there was no way to tell whether the hydrogen in the pipes had been generated immediately after the onset of the crisis on March 11 or in later stages. Nor could TEPCO measure how much hydrogen may have been generated in the containment vessel.
(Excerpt) Read more at ajw.asahi.com ...
P!
TEPCO report on the matter:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/images/handouts_110923_02-e.pdf
Time to get off the island.
In the ‘70’s I was working for a company that was Making ASME Sect III class III equipment & some of it went to Toyko Electric. 1 was a vaccuum still to reduce to volume of radioactive waste & I think an article called a a Hydrogen Recombiner. We made quite a few of them & japan was a memorable customer because they said their vaccuum was stronger than ours (We were using -15 psia for ours)
Not good....
Japan is 13 hours ahead of the East Coast time, so it's almost 02:30am Tuesday there now. Not much going on under the floodlights.
Thanks for keeping us abreast of this, TLR. Stay safe.
This is scary. They have atomic hydrogen in Mexico, too. Plus formaldehyde.
Actually, it is just a matter of time until the next explosion, considering how Tepco/Japan operates. Did they mention that they were going to cut the pipe containing hydrogen gas with a blow torch, but they tested for hydrogen gas first. Their meter maxed out at 10,000 ppm. So they reported 10,000 ppm hydrogen in the pipe. Then they tested with a meter with a higher range. Their new meter maxed out at 40,000 ppm hydrogen. So they then reported 40,000 PPM hydrogen. Then they tested it with a complete gas burn meter and it registered maximum saturation of hydrogen gas at 1,000,000 ppm.
Lots of comments on this thread.
TEPCO: It May Be 100% Hydrogen Gas Inside the Pipe Connecting to Reactor I Containment Vessel
Think we have seen this before when Tepco measured radiation levels. If the meter maxes out, they report that maximum as the known level. Tepco should include the maximum instrument sensing levels for all of its reported measurements.
"I'm so glad that we didn't cut the pipe. It may sound incredible but there was no measurement [of flammable gas] scheduled in the initial work plan. But they decided to measure one day before they were going to cut the pipe. Close call. There is no instrument that can measure hydrogen alone, at Fuku I. It will come on September 28, so the measurement may be done on either September 28 or 29. The result seems obvious, but..."
Fuku I Hydrogen Gas Update: TEPCO Was Going to Cut the Pipe Without Testing
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