Lack of checking procedures halted debris removal at Fukushima unit: TEPCO

Why they should just pour concrete inside the reactor, spending billions for nothing

they should just pour concrete inside the reactor

That would be a Really Bad Idea™.

after it was discovered that the pipes used in the trial extraction had been placed in the wrong order during preparations.

And the govt is putting it's trust in these incompetent buffoons to solve this issue and keep its other nuclear plants safe and running smoothly??? Ludicrous!

And the govt is putting it's trust in these incompetent buffoons

I see noone else stepping up to the task. Do you?

I mean, I don' blame anyone. This has to be one of the most thankless jobs in history. Succeed and you'll end up unearthing the most toxic trash in the history of mankind. But as soon as not even yourself, but one of your subcontractors makes a mistake you'll get called "incompetent buffoon" by other nuclear engineers.

There's just no win to be had here.

There are all kinds of rumours circulating in the area atm, one is that Tepco was going to always wind down operation anyway and the tsunami damage is just more excuses for them to save money. If true, it reflects very badly on how weak the government is or how devious Tepco is.

Apparently, they also convinced the IAEA that the containment vessel 'may be' damaged, but according to some locals vids show it is actually intact and the task of removing melted fuel should be complete and documentable.

Hope the rumours are false....else it's a very bad reflection on the nuke industry.

Why they should just pour concrete inside the reactor, spending billions for nothing

Why didn't the experts think of this? You should call them right now with your idea. I am sure they will give you a medal.

This is happening due to TEPCO extreme incompetence, but also, because they (Japan Government and TEPCO) keep refusing outside help, even if the US, UK, Ukrainian, Canadian or France nuclear experts and engineers, expressed so many times the will to help up cleaning the plant.

But silly proudness and specially the callous "we can do it by ourselves" slogan, lead to this continuing disaster...

Tepco was going to always wind down operation anyway and the tsunami damage is just more excuses for them to save money. (...) according to some locals vids show it is actually intact

Let me get this perfectly straight, please. According to this rumour there is actually no Fukushima disaster, the reactor is fine and could be easily dismantled, Tepco just needed an excuse to shut it down, and this is the cheaper way to do it?

In what world, actual or hypothetical, does that make a lick of sense?

When the disasters struck, the Fukushima No. 1 reactor was at the end of its life cycle. TEPCO would probably have decommissioned it, but the other 5 reactors would have remained working.

There are many international nuclear experts on the panel looking for solutions to impossible problems.

Let me get this perfectly straight, please. According to this rumour there is actually no Fukushima disaster, the reactor is fine and could be easily ddismantled

Not sure how you got this ^^ from what I relayed as rumours.

Obviously if fuel rods has melted then a nuclear disaster of epic proportion has occurred, some locals are merely only saying the containment vessel (many metres of thick concretere) looks intact from videos, therefore Tepco should be able to remove the melted fuel completely and document every gram of it.

To be clear, per quote from article

An estimated 880 tons of fuel debris remains in the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 reactors, which suffered core meltdowns after losing cooling function due to a power failure during the disaster.

It should be possible to remove all 880 tons of melted core, as it's still in the containment vessel. See image link. The rumours are saying video shows the vessel is intact.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRp72wkOVJ5AxQoe7InPT_2XiV4wyoa907bmB4vgsP37L2nmSe9HivvtWQ&s=10

The diffefence between Tepco and rumour is Tepco is saying vessel may be breached and melted fuel is not contained. Appsrently, video evidence does not support Tepco.

The reactor containment vessels were damaged by the earthquake and explosions creating large cracks. The cooling water leaks out of those cracks and into the reactor basements. Mixing with the underground water present is the cause of all the contaminated water.

There is no way to repair those cracks.

Some nuclear experts believe the molten fuel has escaped from those containment vessels.

The radiation levels are more than 15 SIEVERTS per hour.

The molten fuel is so hard only a diamond will be able to cut it.

Not sure how you got this ^^ from what I relayed as rumours.

That's why I asked for clarification. For a second I was afraid that anyone would actually think such nonsense.

locals are merely only saying the containment vessel (many metres of thick concretere) looks intact from videos

And from the footage available to "locals" they, untrained laymen, would be able to judge that better than nuclear engineers? Or ... those nuclear engineers wouldn't say the truth?

Is it a spicy, spicy conspiracy?

The reactor containment vessels were damaged by the earthquake and explosions creating large cracks

The IAEA report does not say this ^^^. The earthquake epicentre was well offshore, and the buildings themselves, much weaker than the containment vessel were not damaged. The buildings were damaged by the hydrogen explosion afterwards.

from the footage available to "locals" they, untrained laymen, would be able to judge that better than nuclear engineers?

That's the point, engineers who works for Tepco. The ramification of the 'truth' being:

too hard make the site off limits and not clean up properly;

or

oh, the molten core is all in one place, Tepco needs to clean it up and document all of it.

guys, this is all documented by wiki.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_nuclearaccident(Unit_1_Reactor)

In June the Japanese government confirmed that Unit 1 reactor vessel containment was breached, and pumped cooling water continues to leak months after the disaster

...and they told the IAEA it 'may' be breached...also. This has now been recanted.

On 11 October 2012, TEPCO released results of the first direct inspections (by remotely operated camera) of conditions in the interior of the Reactor 1 PCV.[45] These suggest that the initial assumptions concerning the behaviour of the fuel mass during the accident may have been incorrect

The locals may not be 'engineers' but some may be ex-workers and they know what they see.

A radiation alarm went off before the tsunami stuck indicating there had been damaged that caused radiation to leak. The reactors went into shutdown safely. Some of the containment cracks were caused by the earthquake.

If the molten fuel is not removed it will need cooling water for thousands of years creating a massive waste water problem.

The document building was destroyed by the earthquake. The radiation proof door to the safety building was warped by the earthquake and the workers were unable to seal it allowing radiation to enter the building.

The document building was unsafe to enter where vital documents were needed because even the plant manager had no idea where everything was like safety values for cooling.

The shocking point for me as an ex-engineer was the lack of the highest safety standards at the plant. I had assumed that it would be normal for a nuclear plant would have the highest standards possible. They were seriously lacking at this plant.

Everyone involved with the nuclear village believed it would never be possible to have a nuclear disaster in the country.

that a lack of sufficient confirmation on simple-task procedures led to an error, resulting in the suspension of efforts to extract small amounts of melted fuel from one of the reactors last month.

No regular personnel present to supervise contractors during pipe assembly to confirm correct order of pipes?

the operation was suspended on the first day in late August after it was discovered that the pipes used in the trial extraction had been placed in the wrong order during preparations.

Just write order numbers in bold on the outside of the pipes

It is undoubtably a melt through at Unit 1. The molten fuel went trough the PCV and will have eaten through the concrete mat. And getting a rod put together in the right order is beyond the present team.

@wallace, fyi, the definitive summary, unbiased, presented by expert to expert audience.

https://youtu.be/4z7OwfwoPzA?si=1kivnD2cJGZ8_LDB

>

It is undoubtably a melt through at Unit 1.

...so the CCP independent political expert keeps saying, and why China is within its rights to ban seafood from inland Kyoto LOL. IF this is true, then Tepco doesn't have to clean it up, because it will be too difficult to do so, is this what the CCP ultimately wants?

Also, you do understand the difference between the pressure vessel and containment vessel right?

Sh1mon M4sada

Youtube I will not bother with. I have read every major investigation and report since 2011. That is enough for me.

The reactor pressure vessels hold the nuclear fuel. The containment vessel holds the reactor pressure vessel. The melted fuel burned through the pressure vessel and the concrete pedestal and lies in the bottom of the containment vessel.

And this is why nuclear power should be avoided at all costs. It is an absolute clusterfck to deal with when accidents happen. And they will happen no matter how many safety precautions are taken.

DanteKHToday 11:44 am JST

because they (Japan Government and TEPCO) keep refusing outside help, even if the US, UK, Ukrainian, Canadian or France nuclear experts and engineers, expressed so many times the will to help up cleaning the plant.

What total and utter nonsense.

TEPCO and the Japanese government work with all sorts of international partners. They work with organizations such as Sellafield in the UK, which has more decommissioning experience than anyone in the world:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/sellafield-ltd-and-japan-prove-the-value-of-continued-cooperation

IRID (leading the robot development) works with many international experts:

https://irid.or.jp/en/activities/adviser/20221108-2/

The monitoring committee has international experts, and is led by the former Chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission:

http://www.nrmc.jp/en/about/index-e.html

And then there's the IAEA. Guess what the 'I' in 'IAEA' stands for.

Sh1mon M4sadaToday 11:00 am JST

the task of removing melted fuel should be complete and documentable.

therefore Tepco should be able to remove the melted fuel completely and document every gram of it.

It should be possible to remove all 880 tons of melted core, as it's still in the containment vessel.

The fuel that can be easily removed has been. This happened at the Unit 3 Spent Fuel Pool, for instance (completed in 2021):

https://www.tepco.co.jp/en/hd/decommission/progress/removal/unit3/index-e.html

The remaining melted fuel (debris) within the PCVs cannot be picked up by regular fuel handling machines and easily removed. Much of it is twisted, deformed, and mixed with parts of the structures, and it needs very particular (and completely unprecedented) handling in a highly radioactive environment. This is the reason for the trials and remote robotic surveys: to document the actual conditions inside the PCVs and physical make-up of the debris so that it can be removed.

There is all sorts of information available on this, but as a basic guide:

https://www.tepco.co.jp/en/decommission/progress/fuel-debris/what-is-fuel-debris/index-e.html

The shocking point for me as an ex-engineer was the lack of the highest safety standards at the plant. I had assumed that it would be normal for a nuclear plant would have the highest standards possible. They were seriously lacking at this plant.

Re:Wallace’s above comments.

What is even more ‘shocking’ is that there are nuclear reactors in Japan which has experienced some of the largest most destructive earthquakes ever.