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The company hopes to locate and start removing the missing fuel from 2011, the Tokyo Electric Power Company's (TEPCO) chief of decommissioning at Fukushima, Naohiro Masuda, revealed.
The fuel extraction technology is yet to be elaborated upon, he added.
Following the tsunami-caused 2011 meltdown at Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant uranium fuel of three power generating reactors gained critical temperature and burnt through the respective reactor pressure vessels, concentrating somewhere on the lower levels of the station currently filled with water.
The melted nuclear fuel from Reactor 1 poured out completely, estimated 30 to 50 percent of fuel from Reactor 2 and 3 remained in the active zone, Masuda said.
The official estimates that approximately "200 tons of nuclear fuel debris lies within each unit," which makes in total about 600 tons of melted fuel mixed up with metal construction elements, concrete and whatever else was down there.
The absolutely uncontrollable fission of the melted nuclear fuel assemblies continue somewhere under the remains of the station.
"It's important to find it as soon as possible," acknowledged Masuda, admitting that Japan does not yet possess the technology to extract the melted uranium fuel.
"Once we can find out the condition of the melted fuel and identify its location, I believe we can develop the necessary tools to retrieve it," Masuda said.
TEPCO's inability to locate the melted fuel could be explained by huge levels of radiation near the melted reactor shells.
- 200 tons of nuclear fuel debris lies within each unit," which makes in total about 600 tons of melted fuel mixed up with metal construction elements, concrete and whatever else was down there.
- Five years after the Fukushima tragedy, the exact location of the highly radioactive "runaway" fuel remains mystery for TEPCO.
- Japan does not yet possess the technology to extract the melted uranium fuel.
- Radiation is so high that even custom-built robots sent there to get information about the current state of affairs there get disabled by the tremendous radioactivity flux.
- It may be possible that we're never able to remove the fuel.
- There are also some 10 million plastic bags full of contaminated soil concentrated in gigantic waste dumps scattered around the devastated nuclear facility.
- 40 years [to decommission the plant] is an optimistic view.
The Fukushima clean-up team remains in the dark about the exact locations of 600 tons of melted radioactive fuel from three devastated nuclear reactors, the chief of decommissioning told the ABC's Foreign Correspondent program in an exclusive interview.
The company hopes to locate and start removing the missing fuel from 2011, the Tokyo Electric Power Company's (TEPCO) chief of decommissioning at Fukushima, Naohiro Masuda, revealed.
The fuel extraction technology is yet to be elaborated upon, he added.
Following the tsunami-caused 2011 meltdown at Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant uranium fuel of three power generating reactors gained critical temperature and burnt through the respective reactor pressure vessels, concentrating somewhere on the lower levels of the station currently filled with water.
The melted nuclear fuel from Reactor 1 poured out completely, estimated 30 to 50 percent of fuel from Reactor 2 and 3 remained in the active zone, Masuda said.
The official estimates that approximately "200 tons of nuclear fuel debris lies within each unit," which makes in total about 600 tons of melted fuel mixed up with metal construction elements, concrete and whatever else was down there.
Typically, some 44 million kilowatt-hours of electricity are produced from one tonne of natural uranium.
The production of this amount of electrical power from fossil fuels would require the burning of over 20,000 tonnes of black coal or 8.5 million cubic metres of gas.
The production of this amount of electrical power from fossil fuels would require the burning of over 20,000 tonnes of black coal or 8.5 million cubic metres of gas.
Five years after the Fukushima tragedy, the exact location of the highly radioactive "runaway" fuel remains mystery for TEPCO.
The absolutely uncontrollable fission of the melted nuclear fuel assemblies continue somewhere under the remains of the station.
"It's important to find it as soon as possible," acknowledged Masuda, admitting that Japan does not yet possess the technology to extract the melted uranium fuel.
"Once we can find out the condition of the melted fuel and identify its location, I believe we can develop the necessary tools to retrieve it," Masuda said.
TEPCO's inability to locate the melted fuel could be explained by huge levels of radiation near the melted reactor shells.
It is so high that even custom-built robots sent there to get information about the current state of affairs there get disabled by the tremendous radioactivity flux.
Human presence in the area is understandably out of the question.
Human presence in the area is understandably out of the question.
"Nobody really knows where the fuel is at this point and this fuel is still very radioactive and will be for a long time," the former head of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Gregory Jaczko, told Foreign Correspondent.
"It may be possible that we're never able to remove the fuel.
"It may be possible that we're never able to remove the fuel.
Melted uranium fuel and tons and tons of highly radioactive water aren't the only issues troubling TEPCO's clean-up team at Fukushima.
There are also some 10 million plastic bags full of contaminated soil concentrated in gigantic waste dumps scattered around the devastated nuclear facility.
There are also some 10 million plastic bags full of contaminated soil concentrated in gigantic waste dumps scattered around the devastated nuclear facility.
1 comment:
A bunch of the fuel rods actually exploded and sent "hot particles" out into the atmosphere during the original event. Im guessing that's where a lot if that missing fuel is. In the atmosphere being breathed in by us and pouring down in rain. Fukushima is an extinction level event. That's why they aren't really trying to do anything. It's far too late in the game, and they want us down to a manageable amount of humans that they can control.
The Bible mentions something about.....him coming because no one would be left alive if he didn't come. I think we are getting close to that time.....
And you? Scott? We are very very close aren't we?
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