[ RadSafe ] Fwd: [New post] Fukushima nuclear decommissioners have no idea how to deal with molten nuclear cores

[Roger Helbig]

Is the core of these reactors really molten or is this hype?

Thanks.

Roger Helbig

Fukushima nuclear decommissioners have no idea how to deal with molten
nuclear cores

by Christina MacPherson

Times: "The worst possible result" revealed at Fukushima -- Plant
Chief: Centuries may pass before humans find a way to deal with molten
cores -- Top Official: "We have no idea" what to do, "the technology
simply doesn't exist... I can't say it's possible" (VIDEOS)
http://enenews.com/times-worst-possible-result-revealed-fukushima-plant-chief-centuries-pass-before-humans-invent-deal-molten-fuel-videos

NHK 'Nuclear Watch' transcript, Mar 31, 2015 (emphasis added):

NHK: The people trying to decommission the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear
plant have been hit by setback after setback... and faced accusations of
misconduct. It's lost them a lot of public trust... [Naohiro Masuda,
president of Tepco's decommissioning company] revealed he's not sure
if he can comply with the government set plan [for] removing the fuel...
Naohiro Masuda, president of Tepco's Fukushima Daiichi Decommissioning
Company: We have no idea about the debris. We don't know its shape or
strength. We have to remove it remotely from 30 meters above, but we
don't have that kind of technology, it simply doesn't exist... We
still don't know whether it's possible to fill the reactor containers
with water. We've found some cracks and holes in the three damaged
container vessels, but we don't know if we found them all. If it turns
out there are other holes, we might have to look for some other way to
remove the debris.
NHK: Asked [about the gov't target to begin by 2020], his answer was
surprisingly candid.
Masuda: It's a very big challenge. Honestly speaking, I cannot say
it's possible.

Dale Klein, Tepco Nuclear Reform Monitoring Committee chair, Mar 31,
2015 (at 24:00 in):

Richard Lloyd Parry, The Times: I was at the plant last week on the
tour and we talked Mr. Ono, the boss. He made no bones about the fact
that the technology... to remove the molten or semi-molten fuel doesn't
exist yet... I asked him how can you be sure that it will be, and he
said, "Well, 200 years ago people would never have dreamed of bullet
trains or mobile phones, but they exist." That seems to be the scale
of the leap... that's going to be required. So there must be immense
uncertainties around that... There must surely be a chance that it won't
work out, and that the eventual solution will be something like the
Chernobyl solution... a sarcophagus of some kind sealing in the 3
plants...
Klein: This is something that has never been done... Units 1, 2, and 3...
molten fuel penetrated the bottom of the vessel... We don't know... how
much and where it moved.

The Times (complete article), Mar 28, 2015: The chief of the Fukushima
nuclear power station has admitted that the technology needed to
decommission three melted-down reactors does not exist, and he has no
idea how it will be developed [and] conceded that the stated goal of
decommissioning the plant by 2051 may be impossible without a giant
technological leap... [Tepco] continues to be embarrassed by leaks of
radiation into the sea... Recent scans of one revealed the worst
possible result: all the nuclear fuel that was in the reactor's
furnace has melted and dripped down into the concrete outer
containment vessel... The alternative would be to seal the entire
complex in a giant sarcophagus like the one covering Chernobyl -- butit
would have to extend underground to stop contaminated groundwater
reaching the sea. [See the initial report based on an excerpt from
this article here]

Akira Ono, chief of Fukushima Daiichi, Mar 28, 2015: "There are so
many uncertainties... For removal of the debris, we don't have accurate
information... or any viable methodology... I believe human beings have
the capability to develop technologies... It may take 200 years."

Watch: NHK 'Nuclear Watch' | Klein Press Conference

Christina MacPherson | April 6, 2015 at 7:46 am | Categories:
Fukushima 2015 | URL: http://wp.me/phgse-jd8

http://nuclear-news.net/2015/04/06/fukushima-nuclear-decommissioners-have-no-idea-how-to-deal-with-molten-nuclear-cores/