Published: March 8th, 2013 at 12:15 pm ET
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Title: Flooding complicates clean-up at Japanese nuclear plant
Source: Reuters
By: James Topham and Mari Saito (Aaron Sheldrick; Editing by Robert Birsel)
Date: March 8, 2013
[...] Plugging leaks in the reactors and removing the water is a necessary before removing melted fuel from the three damaged reactors. [...]
“We are developing remote technologies to do that, but in case there are too many holes and it is difficult to repair all of them, we have to take a different approach,” [Shunichi Suzuki, Tepco's general manager for research and development of Fukushima Daiichi decommissioning] said.
The company may resort to pouring a cement-like material into the rectors’ [sic] suppression chambers to plug leaks it has not been able to locate, Suzuki said. [...]
“One approach we are considering is putting grout, like cement. In other words, filling it in.” -Shunichi Suzuki
See also from today: Japan Times: Melted fuel burned holes in Fukushima reactors -- Explosions cracked containment vessels?
Published: March 8th, 2013 at 12:15 pm ET
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sending...
2 years later? why bother
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"The company may resort to pouring a cement-like material into the rectors’ [sic] suppression chambers to plug leaks it has not been able to locate, Suzuki said."
Why not "locate" the leaks by putting a colored dye into the incoming water? Or if the leak does not involve water, then pump in some colored substance that floats on air. Cameras could be mounted to watch remotely as this happens. This seems like a better idea than just dumping in cement.
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ONLY TOOK A YEAR after posting this online over a Year ago
Markww
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It's over their head, nothing can be done.
Only hope now is to choose wind and solar.
Meanwhile, the smoldering leaking remains of Fukushima, Chernoble, Hanford and others …continues.
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The plan is to remove melted fuel from Reactors1,2,&3 by filling them with water, to keep radiation releases under control during fuel removal.
http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/focus/fukushima/japan-report2/chapter-5.pdf. (See pages 4-6)
Of course, Containments1,2,&3 must be made water tight first.
TEPCO believes the fuel has burned into the Containment concrete, but is to be found at the bottom of Containment1,2,&3. When they explore further, they will find that the fuel has exited the containment vessels, and burned through the containment base, and exited the building, leaving only a smoking hole behind.
It is not a mystery why there is so little water in the containment vessel.
It is not a mystery where all the water they dumped into Containments1,2,&3 went.
It is not a mystery that they are finding that the Pacific Ocean now has a gigantic plume of heavily contaminated water drifting slowly towards US shores.
The only mystery is why TEPCO people are so dense.
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PhillipUpNorth:: I contend that they are covering for GE, the Manufacturer that 'forgot' to design an 'off' switch to the irradiated crap …. too busy booking profits, I guess, (although if one honest GE managerial accountant exists … I bet he (she) would be able to show that the entire nuclear enterprise at this once proud company (which my great grandfather founded) has shown, at best, zero profit!)
… … just sayin'
peace …
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In my opinion first things first, we must confirm a 100 percent if the fuel is in containment or not, most probably not and location of corium, then and only then can we approach the problem and what paths to take, if any.
We are in unknown territory and any mistake could be detrimental.
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They cannot seem to confirm anything AT ALL. They cannot even FIND the melted fuel. All we are ever sure of is catastrophe.
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Cement type material?
This is a thesis paper..concerning containment of a melted core.
Also a pitch for an experimental..facility.
Molten Core – Concrete Interactions in Nuclear Accidents: Theory and Design of an Experimental Facility- Tuomo Sevón
Oct 6 2005
http://www.scribd.com/doc/45551070/Molten-core-concrete-interactions-in-nuclear-accidents-theory-and-design-of-an-experimental-facility
Another ridiculous attempt..at the impossible..IMHO.
The background data ..concerning melted core and concrete..very interesting.
See figure 2…
Simulation of Molten Corium Concrete Interaction
in a Stratified Configuration: the COMET-L2-L3 Benchmark
The 2nd European Review Meeting on Severe Accident Research (ERMSAR-2007)
http://www.sar-net.org/upload/s2-5.pdf
Fig 4..etc.
Conclusion..more experiments..
I wouldn't say..concrete is going to be effective.
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There HAVE been many sightings of cement trucks from the camcorder located on the road to Fukushima
(sorry I don't have the link)
But is this a good thing or not?
Isn't it better to try and put concrete down than dousing it continuously with water and allowing the contaminated groundwater to leak into the ocean?
Will it help or might it worsen conditions and contamination?
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@majia I think they are shoring up Reactor 4 walls..and any others they can get near.
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If TEPCO is going to FILL Containment1,2,&3 with borated concrete, then they must also entomb the buildings with a concrete sarcophagus.
The present plan calls for tearing the reactor buildings down, and, what?
Probably hauling them out to sea and dumping them.
Ugh!
I prefer the sarcophagus, a monument to human folly.
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Please see my comment about the article stating that unit 4 contained plutonium.
Is this a new disclosure?
I think so…
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MOX fuel is in the center rack of this old image of SFP4, majia.
http://www.enviroreporter.com/2012/06/the-unforgettable-fire/all/1/
You can ID MOX by the different handle on top. Not the normal handle.
TEMCO had applied for permission to use MOX. So, they probably parked a charge of MOX in SFP4.
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Thanks
I didn't realize Spfp4 had mox.
Not good news.
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Yep… We breathed a lot of it in the December 2011-January 2012 fires at Unit 4. The crap flew the coop. We will see how much sludge they find behind. But they will lie.
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Cement trucks seen Feb 28th.
Web Cam Forum:
http://enenews.com/forum-fukushima-webcam-discussion-thread-june-30-2012-present/comment-page-37#comment-334026
(credit Johnny Blade)
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Thank you!
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"Too many holes…!"
IMO -
I think there are more 'holes' in the mainstream media coverage of the world's largest ONGOING catastrophic event in history than there are in the containment structures of Fukushima.
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"Fukushima plant 'set to collapse' from another quake or tsunami"
"THE crippled Fukushima nuclear plant remains critically vulnerable to a new quake or tsunami two years after the tragedy, and clean-up operations have been marred by corruption and gross workplace safety violations, insiders say."
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/fukushima-plant-set-to-collapse-from-another-quake-or-tsunami/story-e6frg6so-1226593520079
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"Nationwide, 1,139 companies have gone bust in the two-year aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake and continuing nuclear disaster, with liabilities totaling ¥1.31 trillion, according to a private credit research company."
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/03/09/business/311-disaster-linked-failures-reach-1139-in-two-years/
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Lot of holes? Remember the neutron ray beams March 13, 2011?
http://enenews.com/neutron-beam-seen-13-times-may-be-evidence-plutonium-leaked-from-reactors
MeLuvULongTimes comments Aug. 22, 2011:
"First the reactor 1 exploded. After few days the reactor 3 exploded. At this point, as the rock foundation was tectonically active, the energy from the explosions went to the rock bed. Under Japan, about 2 kilometers deep there is methane-gas-clutter which is methane in a form of ice. It is based on the sensitive balance of pressure, the temperature has to be about 2 degrees celcius. The impact hit there. Under the reactors the leakage of neutron had drilled deep holes or pipes into the rock formation. The methane-clutter under reactor 4 increased 168-times in volume. This is the theory of Nils Axel Mo”rner. And it exploded in a second coming up trough [sic] the pipe with huge speed. It hit the reactor 4, which was stopped and contained no uranium, thus everyone wondered why it even exploded. Pictures were never shown anywhere and the public wasn’t told about this. I’ve seen a picture where a 14-meter-thick concrete wall had exploded because of the massive impact. The methane-clutter came at a cosmic speed creating a blue one kilometer high flame trogh [sic] the reactor."
http://www.japantoday.com/smartphone/view/national/march-11-quake-even-rattled-upper-atmosphere
SP: Did methane clutter rise and meet burning fuel and oxygen? Boom! Inventories dispersed.
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