Temperature at no. 2 reactor rises to 80 degrees

[bluecoat_fan]

Tokyo Electric Power Company says the reading of one of the thermometers in the number 2 reactor at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant surpassed 80 degrees Celsius shortly after 2 PM on Sunday.

TEPCO plans to further investigate the cause, as the thermometer may be malfunctioning.

The reading of one of the thermometers at the bottom of the reactor began rising in late January.

It fell temporarily after more water was injected into the reactor, but started to rise again on Saturday.

The utility increased the amount of cooling water by one ton per hour to 14.6 tons, but the reading continued to rise and reached 82 degrees around 2:20 PM.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20120212_24.html

[Esse Quam Videri]

1. Weird that the temp would be rising

with the successful cold shutdown and all

[AtheistCrusader]

18. Still 18 degrees inside the threshold considered 'cold shutdown'.

[sulphurdunn]

2. If there was anything

else they could do besides pour water into these reactors wouldn't they have done it by now? What happens at 100 degrees? Will the water boil? Then what?

[Esse Quam Videri]

5. The highly radioactive water boils

and with there being no containment vessel the steam goes straight up to the atmosphere. Depending on the winds and jet stream the radioactive particles will be somewhere over N. America within days to a week.

[PearliePoo2]

3. And where does all that contaminated water go??

"TEPCO reported the situation to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, and plans to increase the volume of cooling water by 3 tons per hour to 18 tons".

It goes into storage tanks that are nearly full. Then what? Will it find it's way to the Pacific Ocean, as before?
Fuckers

[cstanleytech]

4. Or does it sit there to cool then get reused?

[bluecoat_fan]

6. Here is a video of the water injection system.

[Esse Quam Videri]

7. Interesting video

Is there one that shows the treatment/containment of this cooling water?

[cstanleytech]

8. Exactly what I was wondering. Are they reusing the water once its cooled or what?

[Esse Quam Videri]

9. No, don't think they're reusing the water.

It would be so radioactive it would destroy the pumps/hoses/fittings. Optimally for TEPCO would be for much of it to boil off as radioactive steam - out of sight out of mind.

[cstanleytech]

11. "It would be so radioactive it would destroy the pumps/hoses/fittings." Really?

I did not know it could do that.

[James48]

12. Incorrect

"...It would be so radioactive it would destroy the pumps/hoses/fittings.".

No, that's factually incorrect. Radiation doesn't have any material affect on pumps, hoses, or fittings. Pumps, hoses and fittings would not be damaged by radiation.

Radiation damages living tissue, not metal or fabric.

[PearliePoo2]

13. One huge problem is getting access to the plant's interior for surveillance.

The radiation is blamed for destroying the robots they send in. It "fries" the electronics. One robot has just recently been lost.
So, no, it doesn't just target "living tissue".

[Esse Quam Videri]

14. Not true

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_dam

[architect359]

16. Link provided does not lead anywhere on Wiki

"Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name."

Is there another phrase / term that you're thinking of?

[AtheistCrusader]

20. For pete's sake...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_damage

It can embrittle some materials, but they take this into account in designing the plants and equipment. Same for the presence of hydroxyl, which can be introduced into the water by the interaction of Alpha particles, and water, which is somewhat corrosive. (hydrogen peroxide)

[Esse Quam Videri]

27. Did you watch the video?

They are using items bought down at the local Home Depot for christ sake (I exaggerate a bit but watch the video). Not equipment designed specifically for a nuclear power plant.

[AtheistCrusader]

34. That is equipment SPECIFICALLY designed for the purpose it is being used for.

This is not completely ramshackle drainage hose from Home Depot. All of this equipment is designed for this purpose, ESPECIALLY the filters and the hoses leading into and out of.

[girl gone mad]

33. Yes, 'they' take this into account when designing plants and equipment...

but the plants and equipment were designed to function suitably under normal operating conditions, not following core meltdowns which were never supposed to occur.

[AtheistCrusader]

19. Radiation isn't corrosive.

It disrupts electronics with electromagnetic interference, because you're bombarding it with high energy particles, and it disrupts living tissue.

Doesn't do much to inorganic stuff at all. Maybe the boric acid they put in the water, but one can probably assume all the components they use take that into account.

They do filter it and send it back in. If it was evaporating off as steam, we could see the plumes, we're talking a LOT of water here.

It has been widely reported they filter the water, because the Japanese Government issued an ultimatum for them to stop dumping it into the pacific. Hence the drama around the storage of the water, and later on, the filtration systems:

"The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant will attach makeshift hoses to its wastewater filtering system to help improve the water flow.

Tokyo Electric Power Company has been filtering highly contaminated wastewater to remove radioactive material and salt, and then pumping the water back into the reactors as coolant.

But the filters have been working at about 35 percent below capacity, likely because metal piping connecting the tanks has been narrowed by mud.

The utility therefore plans to stop the system for nearly 12 hours on Thursday and attach bypass hoses at 2 locations.

TEPCO has also installed a new device to remove radioactive cesium, in addition to the one currently in use.

It plans to start test-running the device on Saturday, and begin full operation next Monday.

TEPCO aims to improve the efficiency of its water filtering system to lower wastewater pooled in facility basements to safe levels as soon as possible.

The utility says it plans to achieve this for the No.1 and No. 2 reactors in early September."
http://laaska.wordpress.com/2011/08/04/japantepco-to-attach-hoses-to-improve-water-filter-flow-more-related-news/

[girl gone mad]

32. Neutron radiation penetrates the nuclei of all building materials..

causing structural weakness leading to accelerated corrosion and damage. This is one of the primary setbacks to the viability of fusion reactors and it's an active area of materials research. One of the hopes for nanoscience is to create high performance radiation-resistant materials.

Many of the structures directly surrounding the reactor cores at Fukushima have probably been dramatically weakened as a result of the uncontrolled reactions. Containment will be an ongoing battle, just as it is in Chernobyl.

[bluecoat_fan]

10. FYI: Geek blog here...

https://www.hipchat.com/gGzSKXslp

[Stardust]

15. They really are deep in the weeds, aren't they? Thanks for the link! nt

[bluecoat_fan]

17. Fukushima worker suspects the heating gauge is not broken

Mochizuki source has been pretty good.

http://fukushima-diary.com/2012/02/fukushima-worker-suspects-the-heating-gauge-is-not-broken/

[kestrel91316]

21. 80C = 176F

[lovuian]

22. We maybe heading for a nuclear explosion

after that I don't know how anybody will continue with Nuclear Reactors as a source of Energy
producer

This won't be a China syndrome ...It will be an Argentina Syndrome

[denem]

24. Actually, with all that water around, it may be a H-bomb explosion,

bigger and badder than Castle Bravo.

[Sirveri]

31. nuclear explosions require a specific geometry that is not present here.

It is near impossible to attain this geometry from random chance, so why both of you would say something like this I have no idea since you clearly don't know what you're talking about.

[bluecoat_fan]

23. Temperature sensor readings

There are 3 sensors around a circle at: 0, 135, and 270 degrees. TEPCO suspects sensor 0 is broken.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1/images/2u_temp2-e.pdf

[bluecoat_fan]

25. Now at 82 degrees...

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120213a1.html

[bluecoat_fan]

26. TEPCO now says bottom at 89 degrees

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1/images/12021306_table_summary-e.pdf

[Esse Quam Videri]

28. Bluecoat, I check out this website a couple times a day

[link:http://enenews.com/fukushima-worker-i-don’t-think-temperature-gauge-is-broken-likely-area-is-getting-heated|

[bluecoat_fan]

29. Yes, I also keep an eye on Fukushima Diary.

He posts translations pretty quick and says he has a source at TEPCO.

http://fukushima-diary.com/

[bluecoat_fan]

30. Bloomberg.com has now picked up the story.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-13/tepco-says-fukushima-reactor-temperature-breaches-safety-limit.html