Bloomberg
Tokyo Electric Power Co. will begin removing spent fuel today from the wrecked Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear facility, an early milestone in decommissioning that could threaten another crisis if mishandled.
Removal of the first of the 1,533 fuel-rod assemblies at the plant’s No. 4 reactor building is scheduled to begin at about 3 p.m., Masateru Araki, a spokesman for the utility known as Tepco, said by phone.
The operation is the most significant test to date of Tepco’s ability to contain the threat stemming from the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. Were the rods to break or overheat, it could prompt a self-sustained nuclear chain reaction similar to the meltdowns at three Fukushima reactors following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
“Although moving spent fuel into long-term storage is a routine task that Tepco has taken more than 1,200 times over the years, the circumstances at Fukushima Dai-Ichi require special care,” Tepco president Naomi Hirose said in a video message on the company’s website. “The success of the extraction process therefore represents the beginning of a new and important chapter in our work.”
Workers’ Experience
An uncontrolled nuclear reaction due to structural failures or mishandled fuel is highly unlikely because of safeguards and workers’ experience with the procedure, Akira Ono, the Dai-Ichi plant’s chief supervisor, said at a Nov. 7 news conference at the power station.
Removing the rods, bunched in assemblies, will take place from a large shoebox-shaped structure cantilevered atop the reactor building, which was damaged in an explosion after the earthquake and tsunami. The assemblies, each holding about 80 rods, will be moved to a more secure pool on the ground.
Tepco said that it plans to complete the removal of all the fuel in the pool by the end of 2014.
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Mike Adams
The Tokyo Electric Power Co. announced it is delaying the relocation of fuel rods from its crippled plant reactors. Work was originally scheduled to begin today due to the fact that fuel rods remain highly vulnerable in the damaged storage pools. Right now, Fukushima is just one earthquake or tidal wave away from structural collapse, causing a catastrophic release of radioactive fuel directly into the atmosphere.
Moving the fuel rods a wildly risky proposition, as the fuel rods must be extricated from their operating matrix containing coolant water and control rods that "smother" runaway nuclear reactions. Absent these safeguards, the removal and transport of fuel rods is inherently hazardous.
"New video footage from a robot has revealed new leaks within the damaged reactors meaning the rods now can't be taken out as planned," reports Euronews. "One of the fuel assemblies was damaged as far back as 1982 when it was mishandled during a transfer and is bent out of shape."
Euronews goes on to quote Kazuaki Matsui, the executive director of Japan's Institute of Applied Energy as saying "It's very difficult to remove a spent rod because parts of the wall and the bottom of the reactor are all melted. We've never had to deal with this before so that adds to the complication."
[Fuel rod removal] is fraught with danger, including the possibility of a large release of radiation if a fuel assembly breaks, gets stuck or gets too close to an adjacent bundle. That could lead to a worse disaster than the March 2011 nuclear crisis at the Fukushima plant, the world's most serious since Chernobyl in 1986.
All that is required for a runaway nuclear meltdown is for one of the fuel rods to be dropped or accidentally placed too close to other fuel rods. Removing these fuel rods safely is a lot like trying to play the game "Surgery" via a remote-controlled robot, under water, in a murky haze filled with twisted pieces of metal.
In other words, it's almost impossible to pull this off without error.
Read more
Tokyo Electric Power Co. will begin removing spent fuel today from the wrecked Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear facility, an early milestone in decommissioning that could threaten another crisis if mishandled.
Removal of the first of the 1,533 fuel-rod assemblies at the plant’s No. 4 reactor building is scheduled to begin at about 3 p.m., Masateru Araki, a spokesman for the utility known as Tepco, said by phone.
The operation is the most significant test to date of Tepco’s ability to contain the threat stemming from the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. Were the rods to break or overheat, it could prompt a self-sustained nuclear chain reaction similar to the meltdowns at three Fukushima reactors following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
“Although moving spent fuel into long-term storage is a routine task that Tepco has taken more than 1,200 times over the years, the circumstances at Fukushima Dai-Ichi require special care,” Tepco president Naomi Hirose said in a video message on the company’s website. “The success of the extraction process therefore represents the beginning of a new and important chapter in our work.”
Workers’ Experience
Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority assigned an inspector to oversee the removals, in addition to its existing staff at the plant, and is using video monitoring of the removal, the agency said in a statement Friday.
An uncontrolled nuclear reaction due to structural failures or mishandled fuel is highly unlikely because of safeguards and workers’ experience with the procedure, Akira Ono, the Dai-Ichi plant’s chief supervisor, said at a Nov. 7 news conference at the power station.
Removing the rods, bunched in assemblies, will take place from a large shoebox-shaped structure cantilevered atop the reactor building, which was damaged in an explosion after the earthquake and tsunami. The assemblies, each holding about 80 rods, will be moved to a more secure pool on the ground.
Tepco said that it plans to complete the removal of all the fuel in the pool by the end of 2014.
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Fukushima fiasco: Tepco's risky removal of radioactive fuel could set off uncontrolled chain reaction; emergency delay invoked
Natural NewsMike Adams
The Tokyo Electric Power Co. announced it is delaying the relocation of fuel rods from its crippled plant reactors. Work was originally scheduled to begin today due to the fact that fuel rods remain highly vulnerable in the damaged storage pools. Right now, Fukushima is just one earthquake or tidal wave away from structural collapse, causing a catastrophic release of radioactive fuel directly into the atmosphere.
Moving the fuel rods a wildly risky proposition, as the fuel rods must be extricated from their operating matrix containing coolant water and control rods that "smother" runaway nuclear reactions. Absent these safeguards, the removal and transport of fuel rods is inherently hazardous.
"New video footage from a robot has revealed new leaks within the damaged reactors meaning the rods now can't be taken out as planned," reports Euronews. "One of the fuel assemblies was damaged as far back as 1982 when it was mishandled during a transfer and is bent out of shape."
Euronews goes on to quote Kazuaki Matsui, the executive director of Japan's Institute of Applied Energy as saying "It's very difficult to remove a spent rod because parts of the wall and the bottom of the reactor are all melted. We've never had to deal with this before so that adds to the complication."
Fuel rod removal may set off runaway meltdown reaction that's open to the air
Arnie Gunderson of Fairewinds confirms this activity is extremely risky:[Fuel rod removal] is fraught with danger, including the possibility of a large release of radiation if a fuel assembly breaks, gets stuck or gets too close to an adjacent bundle. That could lead to a worse disaster than the March 2011 nuclear crisis at the Fukushima plant, the world's most serious since Chernobyl in 1986.
All that is required for a runaway nuclear meltdown is for one of the fuel rods to be dropped or accidentally placed too close to other fuel rods. Removing these fuel rods safely is a lot like trying to play the game "Surgery" via a remote-controlled robot, under water, in a murky haze filled with twisted pieces of metal.
In other words, it's almost impossible to pull this off without error.
Read more
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