Nuclear Engineer: Fuel appears damaged in Fukushima Unit 4 pool and will fall apart

[Katashi_itto]

if they pull it up — Make sure your radiation monitor works so you know what’s going on when something drops (AUDIO)

Chris Harris, former licensed Senior Reactor Operator and engineer: Fukushima Unit 4, the plans are in November to start removing the fuel. The question is always, ‘What’s going to keep the fuel sub-critical as you’re withdrawing it from the pool?’ That hasn’t been answered to my satisfaction yet because — although there are a lot of spent fuel assemblies in there which could achieve criticality — there are also 200 new fuel assemblies which have equivalent to a full tank of gas, let’s call it that. Those are the ones most likely to go critical first. [...]

http://enenews.com/nuclear-engineer-fuel-unit-4-pool-appears-damaged-will-fall-apart-pull-make-sure-radiation-monitor-working-whats-going-when-drops-audio

Keep batteries fresh in your rad monitor, because you’re going to need to know what’s going on when they drop some fuel. [...]

Some pictures that were released recently show that a lot of fuel is damaged, so when they go ahead and put the grapple on it, and they pull it up, it’s going to fall apart. The boreflex has been eaten away; it doesn’t take saltwater very good.
See also: Nuclear Engineer: New fuel is highly reactive, easier to go critical than spent fuel -- Bad situation if assemblies are damaged (VIDEO)

http://enenews.com/nuclear-engineer-damage-new-fuel-assemblies-be-bad-many-reasons-new-fuel-highly-reactive-easier-critical-spent-fuel-video

UPDATE: Status of #4 Pool part Deux

Fukushima documents discuss “fuel that is severely damaged” inside cooling pool — Illustrations of “deformed or leaking fuels” (PHOTO)

Research and Development Road Map for Decommissioning Units 1-4 at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, July 30, 2012: Removing fuel from spent fuel pools is possible […] However, the spent fuel has been exposed to seawater and maybe deformed or damaged […] it is assumed that most of the fuel is intact […] As fuel assemblies in spent fuel pools were exposed to seawater and possibly damaged, assessment of the impact of safe and long-term storage is required. […] Fuel assemblies (Units 2-4) stored in spent fuel pools were exposed to seawater, and those at Units 1, 3, and 4 are possibly damaged due to falling debris. […] Investigating the impact of spent fuel that was damaged or exposed to seawater on the chemical treatment, waste treatment, and product collection processes. […] Future processing and storage methods for spent fuel removed from the spent fuel pools will be decided on the basis of assessment of its long-term soundness and the results of research and development […]

Examination of Methods for Processing Damaged Fuel, etc. Removed from the Spent Fuel Pool, Page 22: Fuel in the nuclear reactor building pool is thought to be contaminated with saline from seawater, and part of the fuel may even be damaged or leaking due to the collapse of concrete fragments. […] Specific actions 1. Study of past cases related to damaged fuel, etc. […] 2. Examination of the impacts of damaged fuel, etc. […] The impacts of impurities (saline from seawater, etc.) absorbed to damaged fuel […] 3. Examination regarding the handling of damaged fuel • For fuel that is severely damaged and cannot be handled by existing reprocessing facilities, methods for their acceptance, storage, and shear treatment will be examined [...]
http://enenews.com/fukushima-documents-discuss-fuel-severely-damaged-cooling-pool-illustrations-deformed-leaking-fuels-photo

You know that it would be true

You know that I wouldn't be a liar


If I was to say to you

Our dosimeter's are reading higher

Come on NRC, there's a Nuclear fire

Come on IAEA, it's a Plutonium fire

Going to set the World on fire.

The time to culture hesitate is through 

No time to wallow in the political mire 


Try now, we better not lose 

And our World become a funeral pyre

Come on IAEA, there's a Nuclear fire 

Come on NRC, it's a Plutonium fire 

Trying to set the World on fire, yeah

The time to money hesitate is through

No time to wallow in the secrecy mire 


More than try, we can't afford to lose 

And our World become a funeral pyre

[RobertEarl]

1. Thanks

When a nuclear engineer does come out and tell us what is going on it is usually not good news.

What is good is that there are some nuclear engineers who are speaking out. We need them to be free to speak so that we may become aware of what is happening on the other side of the planet.

[Katashi_itto]

2. Putting in link to more documents about condition of #4 pool

[Bennyboy]

3. Cross posted here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=post&forum=1002&pid=3909069

I am trying to compile a comprehensive place for all FUKU stories, so if you see em try to cross post them there as well, that way we can have one resource for all things FUKU.

[Journeyman]

27. Your link takes me to a "Post a Reply" to your Fukushima News post, not the post itself. . .

[Bennyboy]

28. whoops...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023909069#post22

[SidDithers]

4. Broadcast on The NutriMedical Report...

The Nutrimedical Report brings you a wide array of experts discussing such topics as: Geopolitics, Anti aging, Health and Wellness, Prolife, Spiritual, Messianic, Christian, Military, Above Government Space and Warfare Technologies, Constitutional, Legal Jurisdiction Militia, and Ancient Archeology and Science to name but a few.

The second hour of the Nutrimedical Report often deals with new discoveries, natural wellness nutraceuticals and technologies to heal the body, restore function, and slow and reverse aging from custom designs by Dr. Bill and other personally selected nutritional supplement companies that represent the best in the world gathered through extensive research.

To sign up for our Free Nutrimedical Newsletter or order securely online please visit www.nutrimedical.com

Conveniently, you can get all the neutraceutical supplements your body needs, for low, low prices, at their website.

Edit: Might want to check out Dr. Bill Deagle, the podcast Host, and his Clay and Iron Ministries. He seems like a real winner.





There's tons of misinformation and uninformed speculation being spun about the upcoming operations at Fukushima. Is it too much to ask that we try to maintain some standards in terms of sources of information?

Sid

[Katashi_itto]

5. Well if ever shopping for neutraceutical supplements I will keep you in mind. Otherwise....

[SidDithers]

8. That's not me. That's the Host of the show you posted in your OP...

New World Order whackjob spreading Fukushima fearmongering. What a surprise.

Sid

[Katashi_itto]

11. The nice thing is Sid, we really don't have to wait very long to find out if it's fearmongering or

not.

[SidDithers]

13. That doesn't mean we should be complete hair-on-fire alarmists...

and believe every Alex Jones wannabe podcast we hear or see on the internet.

Sources matter.

The NutriMedical Report is shite.

Sid

[Katashi_itto]

14. Whatever you say Sid.

[Katashi_itto]

16. Interesting, that I can come up with yet more sources that are not in the Nutrimedical

sphere that say the same thing.

Course if thats what is important for you to fixtate on go ahead.

[SidDithers]

20. So use the legit sources...

and leave the New World Order whackjobs where they belong.

And it's not the "nutrimedical sphere". The NutriMedical Report is the name of the podcast where the engineer made his comments. It's a podcast produced by an online supplement vendor and a Larouchite Ministry.

But hey, if that's the kind of sourcing you feel comfortable with, more power to you.

Sid

[Katashi_itto]

21. How about this or see the others I posted below:

""There aren't enough trained people at Fukushima Daiichi even now," he said. "For Tepco, money is the top priority – nuclear technology and safety come second and third. That's why the accident happened. The management insists on keeping the company going. They think about shareholders, bank lenders and the government, but not the people of Fukushima."

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/15/fukushima-nuclear-power-plant-cleanup

It all ends up saying the same thing.

[SidDithers]

23. But they're not saying the same thing...

Your thread is about one guy, who looked at some pictures, and said on a whackjob podcast that the fuel rods are damaged and are going to fall apart when they're removed.

Here's your headline, in case you've forgotten:

"Nuclear Engineer: Fuel appears damaged in Fukushima Unit 4 pool and will fall apart"


The story in the Guardian is about TEPCO's handing of the situation, and the toll it has taken on workers. Nowhere does the Guardian say that the the fuel rods are damaged and will fall apart.

Got any legit sources for that claim?

Sid

[Demo_Chris]

6. This is an alarming tale appropriate for the day...

In the real world, actual nuclear and structural engineers and physicists are evaluating real data and hundreds or thousands of images and computer models, they are running tests and scenarios, and considering every imaginable facet of what might go wrong. They are going over every eventuality with a scalpel looking for flaws. They are going to do the BEST that they are capable of doing. If for no other reason than that they don't want to die.

So no, some guy here in the states, looking at a real or imaginary picture, has not discovered some flaw that these experts have overlooked. He's like a guy in the airplane toilet trying to tell the pilot of the plane what he's doing wrong.

Here's what will really happen. The professionals will attempt to do something. The results will be informative. They will adjust and progress from there, doing their best, to the limits of what is humanly and scientifically possible. Gradually, day after careful day, progress will be made.

[Katashi_itto]

10. Yes it's obvious that a crack team of international experts are there onsite.

What was I thinking.


"Yet, American firms who have offered to help with issues at Fukushima have been repeatedly turned down by Tepco and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry."

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/09/23/voices/let-the-world-help-at-fukushima-no-1/

[SidDithers]

12. You mean, as opposed to the crack experts you're promoting in this thread?...

http://www.nutrimedical.com
http://www.clayandiron.com

That's the guy running the radio show you linked to in your OP.

Can we look forward to an Alex Jones thread about Fukushima soon?

Sid

[Katashi_itto]

15. As opposed to the simple fact TEPCO turned down all the offers of help.

That in itself is telling. Next you'll be telling us what a great track record TEPCO has.

[Demo_Chris]

17. I imagine that they are not needed or TEPCO would accept the help...

I told you in the post you responded to what was ACTUALLY going to happen. There will be no apocalyptic disaster, the people doing actual work will adjust to what they learn and refine their technique, and these blogs and fake-science websites will go on to print new horror stories warning of the next imminent world-searing catastrophe.

As always.

[Katashi_itto]

19. You really simply gloss over TEPCOs bungling from the beginning.

Seriously good spin.

[Demo_Chris]

22. Before I call something bungling I prefer to know the real situation...

I am always just a bit skeptical of people who know little second guessing the people who do, and more, assigning both ignorance and (often) the worst possible motives to these professionals. I'm sure TEPCO made many decisions in the middle of this national catastrophe that they wish they had not made, but I highly doubt that they were the bungling incompetents stumbling around like circus clowns that some have made them out to be.

In any case, you are perfectly free to believe any disaster scenario you like. I will give you this: It is possible that the plane might crash, but it's unlikely, and grabbing the controls from the pilot isn't the solution to your fears.

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. A question from the rafters.

how long did it take TEPCO to admit the reactors were melting, when the rest of us knew they were melting.

I would give them the benefit of the doubt, if they were not lying sacks of shit.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. I just wish I were surprised one iota over this

if worst case happens...

Oh wait, never mind. I should go hug the reactors.

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. Somehow Lightfoot is appropriate here (The Pride of Man)

[Katashi_itto]

18. Other Experts weigh in

"Even the tiniest mistake during an operation to extract over 1,300 fuel rods at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan could lead to a series of cascading failures with an apocalyptic outcome, fallout researcher Christina Consolo told RT."
http://rt.com/news/fukushima-apocalypse-fuel-removal-598/

__________

"Yale University professor Charles Perrow wrote about the number 4 fuel pool this year in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.

He said one pool contains 10 times the amount of radioactive caesium present in the Chernobyl disaster and warned one slip-up with the removal could trigger a chain reaction.

"This has me very scared," he told the ABC."
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/world/experts-warn-of-dangers-in-fukushima-nuclear-reactor-fuel-rods-cleanup/story-fni0xs63-1226750342733
_________

Fukushima Pick-Up-Stix - Tepco's 1300 Fuel Rod Removal Operation Begins this November

In November, Tepco plans to begin the delicate operation of removing 1,300 spent fuel rods from damaged Reactor No. 4. with radiation equivalent to 14,000 times the amount released by the Hiroshima atomic bomb.

Everything could go wrong. It appears that Tepco doesn't want any expert help either.

Nukefree warned us about this a couple of days ago in this diary, but I'm not sure many read it:

Is Japan's Abe Being Honest About Fukushima?

I'll let the techies here run with this story, I just wanted to bring this detailed source to your attention. But it is alarming that Fukushima is only 200 miles from Tokyo.

Read The REAL Fukushima Danger for lots of details.

Look at the condition of the buildings that house the fuel rods. Oh good grief!

Two year.... do we really call on-going, world-wide, life-threatening disasters anniversaries?

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/10/15/1247668/-Pick-Up-Stix-Tepco-s-1300-Fuel-Rod-Removal-Operation-Begins-this-November#

[SidDithers]

24. But none of those articles say the fuel rods are damaged and will fall apart...

which was the claim you posted in the OP.

Sid

[Katashi_itto]

25. Like this?