TEPCO: Fuel rods partially exposed above water

[bananas]

Source: NHK

The operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says it believes the melted fuel rods in the No. 1 reactor are partially exposed above the water's surface.

Tokyo Electric Power Company says the reactor's fuel rods have melted and fallen to the bottom. It says holes were created and the containment vessel was also damaged. A large amount of highly radioactive water is believed to be leaking into the reactor building.

TEPCO says that as of 11 AM on Sunday, the temperature of the reactor's upper section was 110.4 degrees Celsius, and the lower part was 88.6 degrees.

It says it believes that the exposed fuel is generating hot vapor.

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Read more: http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/16_17.html

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Via http://enenews.com/alert-melted-fuel-in-no-1-reactor-not-covered-with-water

[sulphurdunn]

1. I knew this a week ago

just from reading about it on the web. Something is very wrong with the way TEPCO is handling its PR.

[Raschel]

3. Still don't understand why an international team hasn't convened to protect the world from this co.

[CountAllVotes]

7. they are waiting for America to solve the problem

After all, we are the policemen of the world and doers of all good aren't we? It doesn't matter if the government is going broke. :grr:

Note to the rest of the world: Do you simply not give a damn or do you just figure that America will solve the problem? :mad: :argh:

:kick:

[AtheistCrusader]

8. Well... we did make the reactors.

[AtheistCrusader]

2. So, the Containment is leaking water somewhere

which could be anything from a huge assed hole, or a stuck valve/broken pipe.

But the fuel is either still in the Reactor Pressure Vessel, or still inside the containment, lying on the floor of the containment, or a combination of the two, yes?

Not... entirely discouraging.


I must say, I am struck by the parallel between this accident, and the Deepwater Horizon accident, wherein, very little investment has been made in the last 40+ years in cleanup technology, and accident test dry runs. Seems like it ought to have been possible to engineer additional monitoring equipment, and even the air filtration system they are using to keep radiation in the building down, and have had it in place long ago. Just as BP and co, should have had equipment and plans to deal with a broken blowout preventer in 5,000 feet of water, in hand, ready to go BEFORE the accident.

[Raschel]

4. Why is it not entirely discouraging? Large amounts of radioactive water are leaking into the

building, which obviously means that it can leak outside of the building.

Not challenging, just asking.

:hi:

[AtheistCrusader]

6. That's a challenge.

Not a disaster. The water can be managed, even if highly radioactive. Fuel escaping the containment (for instance, burning through the base) is a disaster.

Worst case scenario happened at Chernobyl: fuel pile blown open, into the sky, burning. As long as Fukushima Dai-ich's fuel is kept within the containment, we are in much better shape overall.

The water does need to be managed better, as it is threatening Japan's water supplies, but it's not an insurmountable problem.

[yardwork]

5. Government regulation is required for those investments. Otherwise, they don't happen.

Corporations have no incentive to invest in clean-up technology unless those incentives are required by law. Publicly-traded companies actually have a strong disincentive to spend money on anything that doesn't result in immediate short-term profit for share-holders. They are required by current law to maximize profits to their shareholders, period.

Anybody who believes that prevention is important, that safety precautions should exist, needs to understand that these things will never, ever happen without strong government regulation.