nuclear-news

Mixed oxide fuel means danger for No 3 Fukushima nuclear plant

New Problems Arise at Japanese Nuclear Plant, NYTimes.com, By KEITH BRADSHER March 23, 2011 “…..Fukushima Daiichi’s Reactor No. 3 began belching black smoke for an hour late in the afternoon, leading its operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, to evacuate workers.. No. 3 is considered one of the most dangerous of the reactors because of its fuel — mixed oxides, or mox, which contain a mixture of uranium and plutonium and can produce a more dangerous radioactive plume if scattered by fire or explosions. The cooling system at Reactor No. 5, which was shut down at the time of the earthquake and has shown few problems since, also abruptly stopped working on Wednesday afternoon, said Hiro Hasegawa, a spokesman for Tokyo Electric.New Problems Arise at Japanese Nuclear Plant – NYTimes.com

March 24, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | - Fukushima 2011, technology