Fukushima cooling system fails for second time in a month

Fukushima cooling system fails for second time in a month

www.guardian.co.uk

The cooling system for a fuel storage pool at one of the reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant has failed, Japanese regulators have said.

There was no immediate danger from the failure, the second at the plant in a month, they said.

A spokesman for the plant's operator said it would take two weeks before temperatures approach dangerous levels following a cooling system failure.

Last month, a power cut caused a two-day failure in a cooling system.

(visit the link for the full news article)

It is worrying that Fukushima is still having problems during its decommissioning process. I have no doubt that this is a a result of Japan's careless attitude towards the disaster, and the way in which it initially went about rectifying the situation. If Japan had initially dealt with it effectively, then it probably wouldn't be where it is now...

www.guardian.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

I don't know, at least they seem to be dealing with it, or maybe they are losing the battle.

I've always wondered what would happen to nuclear power plants if there was no electricity for a long period, for instance an EMP or another earthquake, or a full scale end of the world type scenario!

As there are nuclear plants all over the world wouldn't we be as good as dead if just one plant had no electricity or people to run it for a long period....or are there safety measures in place? You can probably tell I don't know much about nuclear energy but I've been curious since this disaster happened.

I fear for our planet. Its not looking good there and you can bet its more serious than they are letting on. Instead of all the muscle flexing by North Korea and The USA etc.. Why don't they really all use there brains, And try to save our planet instead of trying to destroy it. Because we wont get another chance

What experts say it takes 2 weeks? Leuren Moret said they have to boron and cement within 1 day. So I hope they don't mean reactor 4 has No coolant at all.

reply to post by DrHammondStoat


They are "dealing with it" but they are also certainly loosing the battle.

As to what would happen to a nuclear power plant (NPP) in a loss of offsite power (LOOP) accident, you are seeing the result at Fukushima Daiichi.

The rods generate heat even when they are not in "active" reaction during power production and have to have water circulated constantly in order to bleed off the heat.

Even once the rods have been used and are considered "spent," they have to be cooled for years before they can be placed in a dry cask for "long term" storage.

Once the fuel bundle has been placed in a dry cask it is "safe" to store...for 10's of thousands of years and then they will be inert enough to not be dangerous.

Nuclear power is "safe and efficient" as long as you don't consider waste disposal in the mix. The real problem is that the byproducts are dangerous for longer than we have written history.

They've got back up systems in place. But they are all finite. Generators run out of fuel after a couple of days and batteries are only good as long as they hold a charge, which buys them a few more hours.

If a significant natural disaster (such as a megaquake) happens, and offsite power is lost, it is only a matter of time before you have an explosion and release of radioactive materials into the environment:



That was no hydrogen explosion. A hydrogen explosion is unidirectional and spreads out evenly, like the blast at reactor 1:



Notice the difference in the two explosions. The first video clearly shows a considerable vertical component to the blast whereas the second video you can see the hemispherical shockwave traveling away sideways as well as upwards.

The video of reactor 3 also clearly shows several HUGE pieces of equipment raining down after the explosion where the blast at R1 shows debris scattering over a much smaller area.

No one knows what shape the cores are in because they cannot get close enough to see them. There is no way to protect a human or a robot in that high of a radiation source.

The only thing they can do is keep pouring water over the cores for decades. Meanwhile a large portion of that then contaminated water either evaporates as radioactive steam or leaks out in to the Pacific.

It's the gift that keeps on giving.