Nov. 6, 2013: A task of extraordinary delicacy and danger is about to begin at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power station... The fuel rods are currently in a precarious state in a storage pool in Unit 4... One senior official told me: “It’s going to be very difficult but it has to happen.”... the fear is that some [rods] may have been damaged during the disaster...Two critically important issues are whether the rods themselves are damaged and therefore likely to leak and whether the casks remain watertight to ensure the rods have no contact with the air. The METI official acknowledged the risks including a possible “release of radiation” from the fuel or if the casks holding the fuel are dropped. He said that “countermeasures” have been prepared – including back-up wires to hold the loads and mechanisms to hold the fuel in the event of a power failure...The Tepco document says the rods will be checked for signs of damage – large amounts of debris fell into the pool during the disaster so the risks are real.... One senior figure in Japan’s nuclear watchdog told me: “Inspections by camera show that the rods look OK but we’re not sure if they’re damaged – you never know.” bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24843657
Posted on: Fri, 08 Nov 2013 08:04:28 +0000