nuclear-news

Highly Dangerous Fukushima 4 Fuel Removal Begins Monday

http://rinf.com/alt-news/latest-news/highly-dangerous-fukushima-4-fuel-removal-begins-monday/

18 November 2013

The highly dangerous and unprecedented removal of the highly radioactive nuclear fuel rods in Fukushima Unit 4 will begin on Monday, November 18.

The Unit 4 fuel rod removal is like to trying to pull cigarettes from a crushed pack.The Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) had previously said the process would begin in mid-November but kept the exact date secret ‘for security reasons.’ TEPCO has now confirmed that the operation will begin Monday.

The NRA said that it will provide ‘enhanced oversight’ to TEPCO as the company begins the hugely delicate process of removing 1,331 spent fuel assemblies and 202 unused assemblies. The fuel rods are brittle, potentially damaged, and still located high above the ground in a badly damaged building that has buckled and tilted and could collapse if another quake strikes.

The fuel assemblies are in a 32 x 40 feet concrete pool, the base of which is on the fourth story of the damaged reactor building. The assemblies – which contain plutonium, one of the most toxic substances known – are under 23 feet of water.

If the fuel rods – there are 50-70 in each of the assemblies, which weigh around 661 pounds and are 15 feet long – are exposed to air or if they break, catastrophic amounts of radioactive gases could be released into the atmosphere.

November 17, 2013 - Posted by arclight2011part2 | Uncategorized