TEPCO to cautiously inject water in No.4 fuel pool

[FBaggins]

Tokyo Electric Power Company has decided to be more cautious about the volume of cooling water injected into the spent fuel pool of one of its reactors.
This is due to fear that the reactor building might be further damaged by the weight of the water itself. The company has been injecting water daily into the spent fuel pools of the reactors to prevent fuel rods from being exposed and further damaged.

At the Number 4 reactor's pool, the water temperature was about 91 degrees Celsius on Friday, more than 50 degrees higher than the normal level, and TEPCO was forced to inject 200 tons of water. Substantial amounts of water will have to be injected daily. Citing damage to the walls of the building supporting the pool during last month's hydrogen explosion, the power company says excessive water injection could further weaken the structure of the building.

From Saturday, the utility started assessing more carefully the appropriate amount of water to be poured into the pool, using a device to monitor temperature and the level of cooling water in the pool. 1,535 spent fuel rods are stored in the pool of the Number 4 reactor's building, the largest amount at the site.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/23_12.html

[Vinnie From Indy]

1. Is there anyplace that people can send suggestions on how the

problem in these reactors could be solved?

Salvagers of a treasure ship off of South Carolina, the SS Central America, struggled with coming up with a way to safely bring to the surface mounds of $20. gold pieces without scratching any of the coins. They settled on using a silicone caulk that they poured over the mounds and let harden. They then brought the blob to the surface and slowly cut out the coins. It worked great.

I was thinking that silicone caulk impregnated with zeeolite or some other radioactive absorbing material could be used in some way.

Just a thought!

SS Central America link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Central_America

[Someguyinjapan]

2. Given TEPCO's past "performance"...

.