Post by Ex_Nuke_Troop on Mar 6, 2014 19:49:06 GMT
MAINICHI : Nuclear fuel recovery work underway at Fukushima plant strewn with massive debris
OKUMA, Fukushima -- Although work is underway to recover nuclear fuel from a spent nuclear fuel pool in the reactor building of the No. 4 reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, the tsunami-crippled nuclear facilities remain strewn with massive amounts of debris -- three years after the outbreak of the nuclear crisis.
A Mainichi Shimbun reporter visited the nuclear power station on March 4 to exclusively cover what is actually happening there. The actual scenes of the devastation underscore a rough road ahead to decommission the facilities -- a daunting task likely to take 30 to 40 years.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) has an office on the premises of the nuclear power plant. The Mainichi Shimbun reporter accompanied Atsuhiko Kosaka who heads the NRA office in charge of decommissioning. It was the first time the NRA had allowed a journalist to accompany nuclear regulators at the nuclear power plant since a leakage of contaminated water came to light last summer.
First, Kosaka entered a quake-proof emergency building, the outpost for workers tasked with decommissioning the nuclear power plant. After obtaining various data such as reactor core temperatures from Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) staff and other workers, Kosaka moved on to the reactor building of the No. 4 reactor to observe the extraction of nuclear fuel from a spent nuclear fuel pool that has been underway since last November. TEPCO staffers are using a special crane to remove fuel rods one by one that lie about 12 meters below the water surface before placing them in special transport vessels. The slogan "Don't fall! Don't drop! Don't get trapped!" is posted on a steel pillar.
Of a total 1,533 nuclear fuel rods, just 418 had been recovered as of March 3. The transparency of the water in the spent nuclear fuel pool was higher than expected, but the recovery work is no less stressful and will continue until the end of this year.
Kosaka took a set of temporary stairs to get down to ground level from the spent nuclear fuel pool on the fifth floor of the reactor building. The areas around the third and fourth floors of the building were strewn with debris including concrete fragments that were blown off by hydrogen explosions three years ago. Twisted pipes also remained untouched. "Walk quickly," a TEPCO official urged from behind. High levels of radiation were being emitted from the adjacent No. 3 reactor.
Near the embankment, a wall is being built to prevent contaminated water from flowing into the ocean. The Mainichi reporter got in a car driven by Kosaka's colleague. The driver stepped on the gas to quickly move past the No. 3 reactor where radiation levels are high. "We can't tell whether radiation levels are high unless we actually go to the site. We want to avoid being exposed to unnecessary radiation," Kosaka said.
Kosaka inspected work being carried out to assemble welded-type tanks for highly radioactive water. In February at the nuclear station, there was an accident in which 100 tons of contaminated water leaked from a flange-type tank.
Kosaka said, "That was the kind of accident that could have been avoided if TEPCO had observed the basics of management. The problem is they didn't do what they were supposed to do. It is our task to regain the way in which we are supposed to control nuclear reactors." After visiting the facilities for about five hours, the Mainichi reporter used his dosimeter to measure his radiation exposure. The cumulative dose was 51 microsieverts -- about twice as much as that of difficult-to-return zones near the crippled nuclear power station.
March 05, 2014(Mainichi Japan)
写真特集
mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140305p2a00m0na013000c.html
OKUMA, Fukushima -- Although work is underway to recover nuclear fuel from a spent nuclear fuel pool in the reactor building of the No. 4 reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, the tsunami-crippled nuclear facilities remain strewn with massive amounts of debris -- three years after the outbreak of the nuclear crisis.
A Mainichi Shimbun reporter visited the nuclear power station on March 4 to exclusively cover what is actually happening there. The actual scenes of the devastation underscore a rough road ahead to decommission the facilities -- a daunting task likely to take 30 to 40 years.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) has an office on the premises of the nuclear power plant. The Mainichi Shimbun reporter accompanied Atsuhiko Kosaka who heads the NRA office in charge of decommissioning. It was the first time the NRA had allowed a journalist to accompany nuclear regulators at the nuclear power plant since a leakage of contaminated water came to light last summer.
First, Kosaka entered a quake-proof emergency building, the outpost for workers tasked with decommissioning the nuclear power plant. After obtaining various data such as reactor core temperatures from Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) staff and other workers, Kosaka moved on to the reactor building of the No. 4 reactor to observe the extraction of nuclear fuel from a spent nuclear fuel pool that has been underway since last November. TEPCO staffers are using a special crane to remove fuel rods one by one that lie about 12 meters below the water surface before placing them in special transport vessels. The slogan "Don't fall! Don't drop! Don't get trapped!" is posted on a steel pillar.
Of a total 1,533 nuclear fuel rods, just 418 had been recovered as of March 3. The transparency of the water in the spent nuclear fuel pool was higher than expected, but the recovery work is no less stressful and will continue until the end of this year.
Kosaka took a set of temporary stairs to get down to ground level from the spent nuclear fuel pool on the fifth floor of the reactor building. The areas around the third and fourth floors of the building were strewn with debris including concrete fragments that were blown off by hydrogen explosions three years ago. Twisted pipes also remained untouched. "Walk quickly," a TEPCO official urged from behind. High levels of radiation were being emitted from the adjacent No. 3 reactor.
Near the embankment, a wall is being built to prevent contaminated water from flowing into the ocean. The Mainichi reporter got in a car driven by Kosaka's colleague. The driver stepped on the gas to quickly move past the No. 3 reactor where radiation levels are high. "We can't tell whether radiation levels are high unless we actually go to the site. We want to avoid being exposed to unnecessary radiation," Kosaka said.
Kosaka inspected work being carried out to assemble welded-type tanks for highly radioactive water. In February at the nuclear station, there was an accident in which 100 tons of contaminated water leaked from a flange-type tank.
Kosaka said, "That was the kind of accident that could have been avoided if TEPCO had observed the basics of management. The problem is they didn't do what they were supposed to do. It is our task to regain the way in which we are supposed to control nuclear reactors." After visiting the facilities for about five hours, the Mainichi reporter used his dosimeter to measure his radiation exposure. The cumulative dose was 51 microsieverts -- about twice as much as that of difficult-to-return zones near the crippled nuclear power station.
March 05, 2014(Mainichi Japan)
写真特集
mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140305p2a00m0na013000c.html
so whats happening in the Solomons, is haarp missing its mark?