Fukuwho? When they pull the rods from Reactor #4 There are numerous reasons that this will be a dangerous undertaking. - The racks inside the pool that contain this fuel were damaged by the explosion in the early days of the accident. - Zirconium cladding which encased the rods burned when water levels dropped, but to what extent the rods have been damaged is not known, and probably won’t be until removal is attempted. - Saltwater cooling has caused corrosion of the pool walls, and probably the fuel rods and racks. - The building is sinking. - The cranes that normally lift the fuel were destroyed. - Computer-guided removal will not be possible; everything will have to be done manually. - TEPCO cannot attempt this process without humans, which will manage this enormous task while being bombarded with radiation during the extraction and casking. - The process of removing each rod will have to be repeated over 1,300 times without incident. - Moving damaged nuclear fuel under such complex conditions could result in a criticality if the rods come into close proximity to one another, which would then set off a chain reaction that cannot be stopped. What could potentially happen is the contents of the pool could burn and/or explode, and the entire structure sustain further damage or collapse. This chain reaction process could be self-sustaining and go on for a long time. This is the apocalyptic scenario in a nutshell. The water build-up is an extraordinarily difficult problem in and of itself, and as anyone with a leaky basement knows, water always ‘finds a way.’
Posted on: Mon, 19 Aug 2013 08:06:29 +0000
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