Core removing struggle

Tepco “Fuel removal of reactor1~3 is more challenging than reactor4 pool”

Note : If you are from the international mass media, Don’t read this site before taking a contact with me.

 

Removal of the molten fuel in reactor1~3 is more challenging than fuel removal of reactor4 pool, Tepco stated in the press conference of 11/6/2013.

Tepco plans to start removing the fuel assemblies from reactor4 pool after mid-November. However, they haven’t even investigated the state of the inside of reactor1~3.

Those reactors also have the spent fuel pools. Considering the high level of radiation, this fuel removal of reactor4 pool can be considered to be “easier” than reactor1~3, according to Tepco.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/tepconews/library/movie-01j.html

 

 

I reject the international mass media to read this site without taking a contact with me.I know some of the mass media corporations read Fukushima Diary to understand the trend so they know when to report about Fukushima as if they were independently following it for a long time.
In short, they make you individual readers pay for this site while they pay nothing, and when they publish the “authorized news”, you pay for the “secondhand news”, which is nothing new for us.
This site is free for the individual readers, but not for corporations.In the world, this site is nearly the only source about Fukushima. I came here alone without any supporting organizations, background or anything. I’m not pleased to be exploited by the corporations that didn’t even properly report about Fukushima when 311 took place. I demand them to take a contact with me BEFORE reading this site whatever the purpose is.

_____

Français :

Tepco : “Le retrait des combustibles des réacteurs 1 à 3 est bien plus délicat que celui de la piscine du 4”
Note : Si vous êtes de la grande presse internationale, ne lisez pas ce site sans avoir préalablement pris contact avec moi.

See also

 

Au cours de la conférence de presse du 6 novembre 2013, Tepco a déclaré que le retrait des combustibles fondus des réacteurs 1 à 3 est un défi bien plus grand que leur retrait de la piscine du réacteur 4.

Tepco prévoit de commencer le retrait des assemblages de combustible de la piscine du réacteur 4 dans la deuxième quinzaine de novembre. Ils n’ont pas encore même exploré l’intérieur des réacteurs 1 à 3 pour en connaître l’état.
Ces réacteurs ont aussi leur piscine à combustibles usagés. Au vu de la radioactivité des lieux et selon Tepco, le retrait des combustibles de la piscine du réacteur 4 peut être considéré comme bien plus facile à réaliser que celui des réacteurs 1 à 3.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/tepconews/library/movie-01j.html

J’interdis à la grande presse internationale de lire et d’utiliser ce site sans préalablement prendre contact avec moi. Je sais que certaines grandes sociétés de presse lisent le Fukushima Diary pour comprendre la tendance et trouver quand rendre compte de la situation de Fukushima comme s’ils la suivaient indépendamment depuis longtemps.
En résumé, ils vous font payer à vous, simples lecteurs, ce qu’ils prennent gratuitement dans ce site et lorsqu’ils publient des “nouvelles de première main” vous payez pour des “nouvelles resucées”, qui n’ont rien de nouveau pour nous.
Ce site est gratuit pour les lecteurs individuels, pas pour les sociétés. Ce site est pratiquement la seule source au monde sur Fukushima. Je viens ici seul sans aucun soutien d’organisation quelconque, ni références, ni rien. Je n’apprécie pas de me faire exploiter par ces sociétés qui n’ont même pas été foutues de relater correctement ce qui se passait à Fukushima quand a eu lieu le mois de mars 2011. Je leur demande de prendre contact avec moi AVANT de lire ce site dans quelque but que ce soit.

Mochizuki
Mochizuki
The writer of Fukushima Diary.
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19 Comments

  1. The Removal of the vast and DAMAGED contents of Spent Fuel Pool #4 is more DANGEROUS, to TOKYO, GUAM and San Francisco, than other operations. So also is the eventual removal of DAMAGED FUEL from the other Spent Fuel Pools at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.

    There were multiple fuel rod FIRES at the various Fukushima Spent Fuel Pools.

    The Spent Fuel is DAMAGED from the melting and fires due to cooling failures, in the Spring of 2011. The Spent Fuel Pools themselves sustained damage from these fires, explosions and concurrent multiple earthquakes.

    The Atomic Explosion in the FDU-3 Nuclear Reactor may have caused substantial damage to Spent Fuel Pools in FDU-2, FDU-3 and/or FDU-4, and perhaps other reactors and Spent Fuel Pools as well.

    We are primarily concerned about the objecitive DANGER, not merely about the relative difficulty.

    Sincerely,

    Bill Duff

    1. Experts say no one has ever attempted such a procedure before and that a mistake could be disastrous

      http www telegraph co uk/ (news/worldnews/asia/japan/10430590/Decommissioning-Fukushima-how-Japan-will-remove-nuclear-fuel-rods-from-damaged-reactor) html

      By Julian Ryall, Tokyo 3:49PM GMT 06 Nov 2013

      The operator of Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant is soon to begin the delicate and perilous process of removing 1,534 nuclear fuel rods from a storage pool at the site. In the coming days it will begin a dry run of the procedure at the No. 4 reactor, which experts have warned carries grave risks. The operator had been scheduled to start the actual removal on Friday, but the Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organisation this week insisted that Tokyo Electric Power Co. carry out a test to ensure that every part of its plan goes smoothly, delaying the operation for some two weeks.

      The authorities’ insistence on additional checks suggests there are serious concerns about the ability of the utility to handle the aftermath of the second-worst nuclear accident in history. Tepco’s very public failures in the 32 months since the plant was devastated by the magnitude-9 earthquake and the tsunami that it triggered have shaken confidence in Japan’s nuclear industry, both here and around the world. And despite the fears of nuclear energy experts, the Japanese public, the government and environmental groups, all agree that the highly irradiated spent fuel must be removed from the damaged storage pool as swiftly as possible.

      Despite all the security measures, experts and environmentalists point out that Unit 4 at the plant contains 10 times as much caesium-137 than was at Chernobyl and that nothing remotely similar has ever been attempted before.

      “Did you ever play pick up sticks?” asked a foreign nuclear expert who has been monitoring Tepco’s efforts to regain control of the plant. “You had 50 sticks, you heaved them into the air and than had to take one off the pile at a time. “If the pile collapsed when you were picking up a stick, you lost,” he said. “There are 1,534 pick-up sticks in a jumble in top of an unsteady reactor 4. What do you think can happen? “I do not know anyone who is confident that this can be done since it has never been tried.” Even now, it is not clear whether any of the rods, containing transuranic and transplutonic elements, are cracked, he said. “At the very least, if there was a catastrophic collapse, I assume there will be a major airborne release of radiation,” he said. “But on the other hand, you have to do something.”

      1. ” “Did you ever play pick up sticks?” asked a foreign nuclear expert who has been monitoring Tepco’s efforts to regain control of the plant.”

        Luckily TEPCO only has to unload the real spf4 where all the assemblies are sitting neatly in their racks, not the spf4 that exists only in your fervid imagination.

        1. Village Idiot

          Interested readers have by now seen substantial evidence indicating WHY V. I. Diemos (DieMost) was bestowed the title of Village Idiot.

          V. I. DieMost is probably an even more accurate ‘handle’ for this simple tool. (VID is numbered among the full-on Trolls, IMHO.)

          Sincerely,

          Bill Duff

    2. While Barack Obama and the gullable USA mendacity-media have ‘taken-lockjaw’ on the subject; other NON-technical groups have CLEARLY expressed their concerns.

      http www indigenousaction org/ (wp-content/uploads/COUNCIL_FUKUSHIMA_STATEMENT_OCT_2013) pdf

      The People of the Earth understand that the Fukushima nuclear crisis continues to threaten the future of all life. We understand the full implications of this crisis even with the suppression of information and the filtering of truth by the corporate owned media and Nation States. We strongly urge the media, corporations and Nation States to acknowledge and convey the true facts that threaten us, so that the international community may work together to resolve this crisis, based on the foundation of Truth.

      We urge the international community, government of Japan and TEPCO to unify efforts to stabilize and re-mediate the nuclear threat posed at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. To ensure that the Japanese government and TEPCO are supported with qualified personnel and information, we urge the inclusion of today’s nuclear experts from around the world to collaborate, advise and provide technical assistance to prevent further radioactive contamination or worse, a nuclear explosion that may have apocalyptic consequences.

  2. Murphy’s Law

    Let us suppose that during one of the vertical lifts of a spent fuel assembly; a series of closely spaced earthquake tremors occur.

    What is to prevent the Spent Fuel Assembly from swinging about the Spent Fuel Pool like a baseball bat?

    Could any sequence/combination of earthquake tremors and fuel swinging, cause the latch to fail and the fuel to drop?

    http murphyslaws net/

    Murphy’s Original Law
    If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those ways can result in a catastrophe, then someone will do it.

    Murphy’s Law
    If anything can go wrong — it will.

    Conclusions

    If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the first one to go wrong.
    Corollary – If there is a worse time for something to go wrong, it will happen then.

    1. Is there a guide or tether lines, in addition to the vertical lift cable?

      If there is no guide then the pendulum movement could produce an unguided missile.

      I watched the Public Relations video and there was no guide or tether line depicted in the simulation.

      Sincerely,

      Bill Duff

  3. Simplicity

    The MOX Fuel from the FDU-3 reactor appears to have a ‘self-removal’ feature. Much of the MOX Fuel was scattered across a thousand square miles of Honshu Island and the adjacent Northwest Pacific Ocean.

    TEPCO overhead photographs taken from the demolition crane appeared to reveal a deep hole where exited the FDU-3: nuclear reactor, steel liner and concrete containment (biological shield).

    Neutrons from the Atomic Explosion from the FDU-3 are the most likely source for the deadly-high Gamma radiation readings and photograph values, of structural steel, taken from the Gamma Cams at the FDNPP.

    There may not be much, if any MOX fuel to unload.

    Sincerely,

    Bill Duff

    1. “The MOX Fuel from the FDU-3 reactor appears to have a ‘self-removal’ feature. Much of the MOX Fuel was scattered across a thousand square miles of Honshu Island and the adjacent Northwest Pacific Ocean.”

      You keep repeating that same lie over and over again all over the blogosphere. Even though there is a picture of the fifth floor of unit three with the cover over the reactor still right there.

      http photo tepco co jp (/en/date/2013/201307-e/130724-01e.html)

      1. The Village Idiot, V.I. Diemos (or is it now DieMost?), speaks more foolishness.

        I do not recall making a Fukushima post elsewhere since September 2013. Perhaps V. I. DieMost can produce a single November 2013 Post, on this subject, that I have made elsewhere? Or an October 2013 Post? If any such posts have been made, bearing my name, then I did not make them. The Web is a big place, and there is no telling what, might be blogged, or by whom, or why.

        Oh and the V. I. DieMost link did not jump to any photographs.

        お客さまがアクセスしようとしたページが見つかりません。
        Page Not Found

        東京電力ホームページをご利用いただきありがとうございます。
        お客さまがアクセスしようとしたページが見つかりません。
        お手数ですが、サイトマップ、サイト内検索より目的のページをお探しください。

    2. FDU-3 is too hot to approach; and ‘a third person’ knocked the salvage crane over.

      http ajw asahi com/ (article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201311070083)

      November 07, 2013 By TOSHIO KAWADA/ Staff Writer

      MYSTERIES REMAIN AT NO. 1 TO NO. 3 REACTORS

      The government and TEPCO announced the three-stage road map for decommissioning the Fukushima reactors in December 2011. The first stage involves preparatory work, such as clearing debris, followed by the second-stage program that includes the removal of nuclear fuel from the pool in the No. 4 reactor building.

      According to the road map, work to remove spent nuclear fuel from the pool in the No. 3 reactor building should start in the first half of fiscal 2015. But high radiation levels have prevented workers from approaching the No. 3 reactor, meaning that remote-control equipment will be needed to assess the situation.

      The road map does not specify when the removal work will be completed there. Removing the melted nuclear fuel from the No. 1 to No. 3 reactors is part of the third stage, and it is expected to start in fiscal 2020 at the earliest.

      1. http ajw asahi com/ (article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201311070083)

        TEPCO prepares to remove nuclear fuel at Fukushima plant

        November 07, 2013 By TOSHIO KAWADA/ Staff Writer

        The locations and the condition of the melted fuel for these reactors remain a mystery. It apparently dropped to the containment vessels through the inner pressure vessels housing the reactor cores.

        In addition, TEPCO has not determined the extent of damage to the pressure and containment vessels.

        TEPCO plans to insert a small remote-control device equipped with a camera into the suppression pool in the bottom part of the containment vessel of the No. 1 reactor on Nov. 13 at the earliest to get an idea of the internal situation.

        The road map for decommissioning work could drastically change depending on the conditions of the melted nuclear fuel and the damage to the containment vessels.

      2. The BBC says that METI ASSUMES (presumably from a broken meter reading), that SOME water is present in the FDU-3 containment vessel.

        http www bbc co uk/ (news/science-environment-24843657)

        7 November 2013 Last updated at 05:36 ET

        Fukushima nuclear plant set for risky operation

        According to the METI official, the latest investigations have shown that despite the meltdowns experienced by each reactor, their temperatures have now stabilised.

        In Units 1 and 2, readings show the presence of water in what’s called the primary containment vessel – suggesting that the melted fuel rods have not penetrated that safety barrier.

        The radiation level is too high in Unit 3 for that kind of examination to be carried out but using data from the reactor pressure vessel the official assumes that water is also present in the primary containment.

  4. It’s hilarious that the anti-nukes have spent the past two and half years howling that the spf4 was an imminent danger to life on earth and SOMETHING MUST BE DONE to stabilize the situation.

    And now that TEPCO has …

    reinforced the building to prevent collapse,

    removed the top two floors of the building so that they can build a cantilevered crane to unload the fuel without putting any stress on the building,

    moved old spent fuel from the common pool to dry cask storage to free up room in a better location,

    and are finally ready to stabilize the situation what do the anti-nukes say?

    Any attempt to move the fuel could destroy all life on earth and NOTHING MUST BE DONE to stabilize the situation.

    LOL.

    1. The Village Idiot, V. I. Diemos continues …

      The Village Idiot, V. I. Diemos continues to demonstrate all the expected traits of a village idiot.

      So for example, I am NOT now, and have never been, entirely ‘anti-nuclear’. I STRONGLY favor the ‘nuclear umbrella(s)’, peacefully maintained since 1946 by the USA, Britain, France, Russia and PRC. I have no particular problem with Israel & India maintaining a few hundred nuclear weapons each, for their inherent right of self-defense. So far, Pakistan, North Korea and Iran have avoided the ACTUAL USE of their nuclear weapons and the CERTAIN annihilation they will experience, should they ‘fire for effect’.

      I strongly FAVOR fuel relocation from the elevated Spent Fuel Pools, to safer ground level Fuel Pools, dry cask storage and subsequent geological sequestration. This includes ALL the elevated Spent Fuel Pools in Japan, USA and Europe.

      I favor the mostly beneficial nuclear applications such as diagnostic XRays and medical radioactive seeds used in cancer treatments, as appropriate.

      I favor food irradiation and smoke detectors.

      I favor cautious use of tritium lighting in military and civilian applications.

      I favor the nuclear navy of the USA, Britain, France, Russia & PRC.

      I favor REDUCING the footprint and expense of the FAILED nuclear power experiment. Electrical generation, with civilian nuclear fission reactors, has not proven to be an economic or safe source of electricity.

      Sincerely,

      Bill Duff

      1. V. I. Diemos remains a demonstrated fool.

        Engineering judgement, critical evaluation, cost containment, risk analysis, and/or operational safety concerns do not DEFINE ‘anti-nuclear’.

        It is WIDELY, perhaps GLOBALLY understood; that TEPCO is ‘way out of their depth’. TEPCO has proven to be a careless, sloppy operator and is RIGHTFULLY bankrupt. TEPCO has repeatedly (continuously) demonstrated an inability to issue accurate statements and/or data. TEPCO is less than deceptive; they are habitual LIARS.

        The General Electric Mark-1 design is widely, perhaps GLOBALLY understood and demonstrated (proven) to be defective and dangerous. The USA could achieve a civilian nuclear power reactor THREAT REDUCTION of approximately 50% by shutting down the ~22 (23%) GE Mark-1 nuclear power reactors.

        Germany has taken this IMMEDIATE and well justified cautionary step. It is a GLOBAL safety priority that the USA also eliminate the GE Mark-1 system from our civilian nuclear power inventory. Winding down the other corroded, superannuated Boiling Water Reactors is also a piece of low-hanging fruit, with respect to VASTLY improved nuclear safety.

        Sincerely,

        Bill Duff

    2. Your handle shouldn’t be “diemos,” it should be “DIE MOST,” which we probably will. Or maybe “Diemented.” As in demented, in case you don’t get it. As I’ve said here before, I was totally “pro-nuke” before this event. Now not so much. Now (as it turns out) I’m kind of in favor life on this planet. Just call me antiquated.

    3. http ajw asahi com/ (article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201311070083)

      TEPCO prepares to remove nuclear fuel at Fukushima plant

      November 07, 2013 By TOSHIO KAWADA/ Staff Writer

      Workers still do not know the location of melted nuclear fuel in the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 reactors. High radiation levels are preventing entry to some areas. And contaminated water leaks continue to plague the site. And removing the nuclear fuel from the No. 4 pool will require delicate procedures, considering the state of the building and the dangers involved. NRA Chairman Shunichi Tanaka told TEPCO President Naomi Hirose to use extreme caution in removing the assemblies. “The process involves a very large risk potential,” Tanaka told Hirose. “In a sense, it is more risky than the radioactive water crisis.”

  5. “just a few dozen meters away is the real dead zone”

    http www bbc co uk/ (news/world-asia-24846819) – 8 November 2013 Last updated at 00:03 ET

    Dead zone

    But visiting the plant, it struck me that in our obsession with reactor four we may be missing the real story at Fukushima. I have recently received a new sophisticated radiation monitor sent from London, which has now had its first outing in the field. You can point it at things and it tells you how many “counts per second” of radiation the object is giving off. Inside reactor building four the readings were constantly low – not surprising when you remember that reactor four had no meltdown. The reactor was offline when the tsunami struck. That is not true with reactors one, two and three.

    As our bus left reactor four and drove along the sea front, I pointed my new monitor out of the window towards reactor building three. Suddenly the needle started to spike – 1,000 counts per second, then 2,000, 3,000, finally it went off the scale. There, outside the bus, just a few dozen meters away is the real dead zone, a place where it is still far too dangerous for anyone to go. No human has been inside reactor three since the disaster. To do so would be suicide. No-one knows when it will be possible to go in.

    When I asked the same experts how long it would be until reactors one, two and three could be dismantled, they shook their heads. When I asked them where they thought the melted reactor cores were, they shook their heads again. Tokyo Electric Power Company was happy to show us reactor four, but please do not ask what they intend to do with reactors one, two and three.

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About this site

This website updates the latest news about the Fukushima nuclear plant and also archives the past news from 2011. Because it's always updated and added live, articles, categories and the tags are not necessarily fitted in the latest format.
I am the writer of this website. About page remains in 2014. This is because my memory about 311 was clearer than now, 2023, and I think it can have a historical value. Now I'm living in Romania with 3 cats as an independent data scientist.
Actually, nothing has progressed in the plant since 2011. We still don't even know what is going on inside. They must keep cooling the crippled reactors by water, but additionally groundwater keeps flowing into the reactor buildings from the broken parts. This is why highly contaminated water is always produced more than it can circulate. Tepco is planning to officially discharge this water to the Pacific but Tritium is still remaining in it. They dilute this with seawater so that it is legally safe, but scientifically the same amount of radioactive tritium is contained. They say it is safe to discharge, but none of them have drunk it.

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