Worst-hit reactor at Fukushima may be easiest to clean up

This article sounds like propaganda before the olympics to say everything is ok and going to plan.

Hopefully folks will FINALLY acknowledge that this disaster is the number one, no comparisons what so ever, in the history of nuclear power.

How times times 3 mile, Chernobyl..there is NO comparison.

Japan HATES being number one at anything negative, but they earned it this time!

So, what's stopping radioactive dust escaping from number 3 reactor at present?

Beside the torrential churning maelstrom of lies, deceit and obfuscation by TEPCO, I, as others, wish the workers of now and the future all the very best.

I wonder what happened to those brave souls who volunteered themselves and are exposed to the radiation. Haven’t seen any report on their current conditions if they are still with us.

Seems like TEPCO and IAEA have got their fingers clicking the - . Ah, well, we know the truth! Good luck to all those doing this dangerous and thankless task. Stay safe!

YubaruToday  04:24 pm JST

Hopefully folks will FINALLY acknowledge that this disaster is the number one, no comparisons what so ever, in the history of nuclear power.

How times times 3 mile, Chernobyl..there is NO comparison.

I agree there is no comparison... but not in the direction you're claiming.

(From Wikipedia)

Fatalities:

Chernobyl: 31 dead directly, 15 estimated dead indirectly

Fukushima: 0 dead directly, 0 estimated dead indirectly

Initial Iodine-131 Released:

Chernobyl: 1.6 - 1.9 million TBq

Fukushima: .4 million TBq

Initial Caeseum-137 Released:

Chernobyl: 55-111 thousand TBq

Fukushima: 3 - 30 thousand TBq

Contamination area:

Chernobyl: up to 500 km away

Fukushima: up to 60 km away

Number of people displaced:

Chernobyl: 335,000

Fukushima: 154,000

You should not compare Fukushima with Chernobyl. They are completely different scenarios and reactors. The Chernobyl reactors were not inside a containment vessel and blew 90% of the fuel rods out of the water tank covering a very large area with shattered fuel rods. Fukushima however, has/had containment vessels, which kept the fuel rods within the housing. However, the Fukushima explosion was caused by super heated water separating the hydrogen and blew it up under pressure. The initial gas from the explosion was highly radioactive, of course, but the fuel rods were not blown out of the vessels. Fukushima’s main environmental disaster has come since the explosions with all the radioactive water leeching into the sea and ground water. It is highly likely that the fuel rods burned through the containment vessel and the cooling water they are now pumping in is running straight through into the ground water, but this is impossible to confirm until they get the melted rods out of the tank, which could take another twenty years. This means, if the vessel is ruptured highly irradiated cooling water will have been running directly into the ground for over twenty years. This is why you can not compare Chernobyl with Fukushima. Chernobyl is capped and set. Fukushima is not even close, so the amount of radiation or environmental damage cannot he accurately assessed until it is capped.

Probably best to engage all of the experts in nuclear power plant design and engineering from Japan Today to solve these problems.

The cost of Nuclear power 1: expensive to build 2: very cheap electricity whilst its up and running, 3: catastrophicly expensive to decommission 4: cost to the environment ...priceless. If we knew back in the 50's and early 60' when Nuclear power was the way forward, knowing what we now know, would they have built these power plants?

Good luck TEPCO cleanup crews...

If we knew back in the 50's and early 60' when Nuclear power was the way forward, knowing what we now know, would they have built these power plants?

You mean if they knew that the plant would have been swamped by the biggest tsunami in recent history?

structural damage or a power outage could cause meltdowns and massive radiation leaks because the pools are uncovered.

No, it couldn't. The rods have been out of the rector for over 7 years and thus no longer require active cooling. They could be removed from the water completely and just air flow would prevent them from heating up enough to melt.

Super moon this evening, blue and blood red. Should be happening about now if the clouds part for you. Last week's eruption any connection, zichi?

Comparisons don't count, a disaster is a disaster in its own right. This is an absolute disaster. This is so far from being OK and at the whim of nature it easly could be magnified further.

Yeah Nuclear energy

Zichi, are you saying that a Supermoon could trigger another earthquake? There have been quite a few Supermoons since 2011... hopefully just a coincidence.

OK, so I only made it through the first sentence of teh article before I shaking my head.

We’ve had seven years of highly radioactive dust?

Three Mile Island and Chernobyl disasters happened completely because of human mistakes. In Fukushima, the disaster was caused both by natural events and human negligence. I am saying this because apparently many people here are only afraid about earthquake and tsunami, when so far, the human incompetence has been the biggest cause for nuclear disasters. So, there's not any nuclear reactor that can be considered safe. Especially the old ones, and there's plenty of them all around the world.

Well based on the complete unpopularity of my post I can conclude that the readers here do in fact realize that the Japan Today posters are not the ones to solve the challenges at Fukushima Dai-ichi

@Zichi: I said that Fukushima disaster was caused both by natural events and human negligence. I doubt you read my post properly.

@Zichi: I think it's really obvious I meant only to say that the natural events induced the disaster. This was my point. I never denied that the nuclear plant wasn't handled properly, and indeed my point was that in all the three main nuclear disasters worldwide, human incompetence was always implied, while you are so obsessed over the supermoon and stuff, that is barely in topic. Are we speaking about how and if it's possible to predict earthquakes? No. We are speaking about a nuclear disaster. Statistically, human incompetence has been way more relevant for nuclear disasters than natural factors. Plus, the so called "experts" are not even able to handle the clean up of disasters or nuclear waste. Look also at the situation at the Hanford Nuclear Site, where contamination is spreading outside the work-control zone, and they have not any idea about what the hell is happening.

@Zichi: No problem. I only want my message can be clear.

@zichi - TEPCO were told the seawall height needed to be increased because of the possibility of a mega tsunami. They refused to act on that.

They were also advised by a French team in 2,000 to get the back up generators onto the roofs of the housings far above sea level and to waterproof all the back up electrical systems, which they also ignored. Yes, the tsunami was unprecedented in modern times. However, TEPCO's ignorance and irresponsibility are what caused the meltdowns. Even now, the reactors they are begging to restart with the new super-duper safety standards have not addressed these issues. Yes, the have increased the height of the sea walls and reinforced some structures, but they are all susceptible to the same electrical failure that set off the meltdowns in Fukushima. The sea walls may stop the force of the waves, but they will not stop in inundation of a large tsunami. It's just stoopid!

OK, so I only made it through the first sentence of teh article before I shaking my head. We’ve had seven years of highly radioactive dust?

Try reading further. The dust is likely to arise from operations to remove the fuel. They're building precautions.

@Albaleo: A vast swathe of Tohoku, parts of Ibararki, Chiba, Tochigi, Tokyo too, etc were contaminated, so still then are the plants, trees, and other vegetation that absorb this, then there’s a thing called spring, with pollen, and winds. Then there is resuspension of radionuclides when the soil dries out and the wind blows, the threat of fires too. Burning all that contaminated forest... it’s why the EU for example, pay the Ukraine a billion Euros a year, to stop the forests burning through management. There’s not just the immediate site to think about, but wherever any of the plethora f radionuclides fell back to earth in the rains of March 15. Wherever the plume wandered in the wind.

@YongYang,

I don't think what you described has anything to do with the roof being built or the comment about "seven tears of radioactive dust" which I was responding to.

DisillusionedJan. 31  06:26 pm JST

It is highly likely... but this is impossible to confirm ... could ... if ... will have been ... cannot he accurately assessed

You seem very certain of what can't be done despite a post very full of uncertain language about what may or may not be happening in Fukushima.

Which, to be clear, I'm not attacking you for uncertain language. Being willing to admit what we don't know is the first step in science. I'm just saying to admit you don't know nearly any outcome for certain about Fukushima and then turn around and insist it can't be compared... that's a bit sketchy, logically speaking.

@Course it does, as that reality demonstrates the actual size of any roof that may be needed and that it isn’t just ‘dust’. QED.

The cooling pools also prevent the release of radiation that will remain in the fuel rods for a very long time to come.

No, they don't. They provide some shielding of the radiation, but as long as you were more than about 100 feet away you wouldn't even need that shielding. Also the nuclear industry has been using dry cask storage containers for older spent fuel for decades. These are concrete and steel containers that provide plenty of shielding while allowing air flow to provide cooling.

We’ve had seven years of highly radioactive dust?

No. The fear is that movement of major equipment on the refuel floor could stir up radioactive dust. So before they do that movement they built a containment. Also they needed to install a crane to handle the spent fuel.

But the storage in the reactor pools are needed first to cool the fuel rods and then shield the workers in the reactor buildings.

But they have been in the pools long enough to cool the rods and reduce the radiation level from the rods.

Removing the spent fuel from the remaining three reactors 1-3 will be difficult because there are still very high radiation levels. Removing them remotely hasn't been tried before.

Fuel rods have been handled and moved remotely for well over 5 decades. It is the normal situation at every reactor in the world. It is not something new.

The situation at Fukushima 1-3 is unique in the levels of contamination, the possible problem from debris in and around the pools and the question of building stability. Although the last issue has been alleviated by the building of the new crane/removal structure.