Seemorerocks: Fukushima - Possible “unprecedented” disaster

Saturday, 17 August 2013

Fukushima - Possible “unprecedented” disaster

Dangerous Operation at Fukushima’s Reactor No. 4 Could Ignite “Atomic Chain Reaction”

Attempt to remove fuel rods from crippled building could cause “unprecedented” disaster

15 August, 2013

Threatening to trigger a new—and possibly more devastating—nuclear disaster than the original or ongoing one at the Fukishima plant in Japan, a risky plan to remove fuel rods from a damaged reactor building could unleash an “unprecedented” level of radiation, according to experts, if things go wrong.

According to reporting by Reuters, the radioactive material within the fuel rods slated for removal are equivalent to 14,000 times the amount released in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and the plan to move them “has never been attempted before on this scale.”

The 400 tons of highly irradiated spent fuel and other nuclear materials will be taken from the crippled building and moved to a safer location, but the manner of the operation should be put in serious doubt, say the experts.

“They are going to have difficulty in removing a significant number of the rods,” said Arnie Gundersen, a veteran U.S. nuclear engineer and director of Fairewinds Energy Education. The fuel rods are being stored in a cooling pool, but if a reaction begins, Gundersen expressed serious concern to Reuters about the company’s ability to respond.

“To jump to the conclusion that it is going to work just fine,” said Gundersen, “is quite a leap of logic.”

“There is a risk of an inadvertent criticality if the bundles are distorted and get too close to each other,” Gundersen continued.

“The problem with a fuel pool criticality is that you can’t stop it. There are no control rods to control it,” he said. “The spent fuel pool cooling system is designed only to remove decay heat, not heat from an ongoing nuclear reaction.”

Reuters also quoted from a recent independent report which stated, a “full release from the Unit-4 spent fuel pool, without any containment or control, could cause by far the most serious radiological disaster to date.”

The site’s operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has been mired in crisis ever since an earthquake and tsunami severely damaged the plant 2011. Most recently it was discovered that as much as 300 tons of “highly radioactive water” has been pouring into the Pacific Ocean on a daily basis from the plant, with no promising remedy offered by either the plant’s owner TEPCO or the Japanese government.

This is unreferenced and comes from Facebook

FUKUSHIMA UPDATE

Fukushima: Japan’s Nuclear Accident Response Director Warns that Tepco’s Actions Might Cause Reactor BuIldings to Collapse Engineers are now facing a new emergency. The Fukushima plant sits smack in the middle of an underground aquifer. Deep beneath the ground, the site is rapidly being overwhelmed by water.

What happens when you pour hundreds of thousands of tons of water (400 metric tons each day times 2.5 years times 365 days in a year equals 365,000 metric tons of water) onto soil which sits above a massive aquifer?

Tepco’s ill-considered efforts to change soil permeability and water flow have caused severe problems at the site … including highly radioactive groundwater bubbling up to the surface.

The spent fuel pool at Fukushima Unit 4 is the top short-term threat to humanity, and is a national security issue for America.

As such, it is disturbing news that the ground beneath unit 4 is sinking.

As [Tepco] prepares to start work on a new set of measures that would ring off and cap the area where the most highly contaminated water has been found, some experts and regulators are saying that the battle to completely contain radioactivity to the site of one of the world’s worst nuclear accidents may be a losing one.

See also: Fukushima: Japan’s Nuclear Accident Response Director Warns that Tepco’s Actions Might Cause Reactor Buildings to Collapse

Fukushima scientists brace for riskiest nuclear fuel clean up yet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S8cc8NUMmU

Fukushima Engineers DIDN'T THINK of THIS?!?! ClusterFuku update

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS7WO_P0Kr4&feature=c4-overview&list=UUQHopfPwfFjn37JgO1l-axg

5 parts of power cable trench of reactor3&4 found empty / Tepco “Contaminated water have already gone underground

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http://fukushima-diary.com/2013/08/5-parts-of-power-cable-trench-of-reactor34-found-empty-tepco-contaminated-have-already-gone-underground/

According to Tepco, power cable trench on the seaside of reactor3 and 4 were found empty from 5 locations at the moment of 8/13/2013.

The trench is located on the east side of reactor3 and 4. They assumed the facility still retained the contaminated water.

In the press conference of 8/14/2013, Tepco’s spokesman stated the contaminated water have possibly gone underground through the cracks and the spaces between the parts made by the quakes.