Something funky going on at Spent Fuel Pool #4 [w/video]

[flamingdem]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKHWbgsLegw

http://www.japannewstoday.com

7 whole seconds! Waiting for Arnie's analysis

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comments:
by Jim in MN

They appear to have stuck a camera on a hydraulic arm in through a gap in the rubble. There is a lot of damage in there. They have said that the only way to keep the water in is to pump it in by the hundreds of tons per day. If they slow down the pool empties and heats up to 80-90 degrees C (boils at 100, not good).

So it's basically the same as the reactor cores: hole in the bucket. But the cores are holed halfway up the containment vessels, so the fuel rods stick up out of the water. Here if they top it up and the condition doesn't deteriorate further, they can keep the rods submerged. But where is the leaking water going to? They don't know. Will a leak get bigger? They always do. So time is not on their side here; a cracked concrete pool full of water suspended four stories high is not a stable thing, even without aftershocks and cyclones.

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Check out #4 been over 6000 Sv/hr last couple of days, they provide no link to it on the page you have to change it in the url line. Read recently but can't find a link that the #5 and 6 readings are actually due to teh masiively contaminated groundwater reaching there already.

http://atmc.jp/plant/rad/?n=4

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Oh, the humanity:

"As of April 29, Reactor 5's dry well radiation level is 40.3 sieverts/hr, and Reactor 6's dry well radiation level is 33.5 sieverts/hr."

The best circus I've seen in decades: 5 core meltdowns, 1 SNF pool under rubble & debris in Unit 1, 1 absent SNF pool in Unit 3, 1 boiling/absent SNF pool in Unit 4.

WHY DOES SPF #3 GET IGNORED BY THE PRESS AND TEPCO? It's blew to bits right? Mox fuel rods?

[FBaggins]

1. What happened to boiled dry?

And "that's the top of the fuel... it's in air" ???

The best circus I've seen in decades: 5 core meltdowns, 1 SNF pool under rubble & debris in Unit 1, 1 absent SNF pool in Unit 3, 1 boiling/absent SNF pool in Unit 4.

How do you get five core meltdowns with only three cores? How can we see a video of an intact pool #4 if it's "boiling absent"?

[flamingdem]

2. They filled it up after it was dry

I want to know what happened with the Spent Fuel Pool at #3

That one is never clearly discussed. It appears not to exist any longer.

[FBaggins]

3. They "filled it up" and removed all that rubble?

I want to know what happened with the Spent Fuel Pool at #3

That one is never clearly discussed. It appears not to exist any longer.


That's quite a stretch. I suppose you would have to believe that to buy the "prompt criticality" cagal... but it's simpler to just realize that's not the case.

[AtheistCrusader]

12. I don't think a prompt criticality excursion is an impossiblity.

Unlikely. Probably 'highly' unlikely. But I would not call it impossible.

(I know you didn't use the word impossible)

[FBaggins]

14. Not impossible in theory... but think of the timeline.

This is just two and a half days after the power failed. No reason to believe there was any damage to the pool at that point, just a loss of cooling. So we have to imagine the pool reaching the boiling point... then boiling dry (without causing a hydrogen explosion by some mirable)... then the fuel melting so severely that the fuel pooled together in a way that could support a prompt criticality accident (which is why we know it had to boil dry... it wouldn't be enough to melt and drip into the water).

That's simply not a 2-3 day process.

If it WAS possible, it would have been unit #4 that went off... because while the pool was the same size, there was MUCH more heat being produced. So it would have boiled off faster and melted faster. But from this video we can already tell that this didn't happen.

[AtheistCrusader]

4. He's saying reactors 5-6 are damaged too.

Which would be interesting, since TEPCO reported them in cold shutdown weeks ago.

IIRC they were 'off' but not empty when the tsunami hit. Only reactor 4's core was empty at the time.

[FBaggins]

6. It's amazing that they have to make this stuff up.

I can't see how the actual problems they've had at the plant aren't bad enough to make whatever point they want to make.

[AtheistCrusader]

10. Yep. Most likely a plumbing backup.

Contaminated Groundwater from the other reactors found a way into 5,6.


Another design consideration data point, possibly.

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[AtheistCrusader]

5. The fuel racks look largely intact. That's good.

But some of the fuel assemblies don't look right.

Still, it's in better shape than I would expect, given this pool had the most fuel of any reactor on-site sitting in it, so one would assume, it has been subjected to the most waste heat.

[FBaggins]

7. Not just "the most" fuel

By far the most active fuel as well.

[AtheistCrusader]

8. Yep, fresh and spent, together.

[flamingdem]

9. What shape is the Unit #3 Spent Fuel Pool in? nt

[AtheistCrusader]

11. Rectangle.

(Serious post, I think there is too much rubble sitting on it to tell for sure, but they have released water replacement rates along with the others.)

[flamingdem]

13. Do you have a link? I never hear it discussed in the media

and if it was not #4 that spewed fuel rods then it might have been #3 and I wonder why there aren't more tests to know the answer to that ..

[FBaggins]

15. You haven't seen reports of how much water they pumped into pool #3?

One comes out every few days.

Regardless... here's a shot showing lots of damage... but the pool is still there and is holding some amount of water.

[SpoonFed]

18. An unreferenced image

Of an Indeterminate reactor

Sorry if I just don't trust images you link especially jpeg graphs posted to anon image hosting sites like you did in the past in an attempt to prove low rad levels disproven in this posted link.

Furthermore, how can you logically hold the position that uranium and plutonium is reaching North America yet three has a functioning fuel pool? You stated previously that you liked the three fuel pool over the three reactor as the culprit did you not?

I'll also have to point out the 6sv/hr readings as more conclusive proof that your downplaying of local radiological risk is crap, workers must have received some whopping doses at some point.

Seems like you just pretend some inside knowledge to low levels or optimal safe readings until you are called on the carpet by the data released by very company and industry you so dearly defend, even if you ignore every independent analysis, explain that?

[Fledermaus]

16. Who knows? You will die if you go stand next to the swimming pool and look in.

How long did it take them to get a good image? Months?

[FBaggins]

17. Only if there isn't enough water in it. n/t

[Fledermaus]

19. Then how come no one has climbed up there and checked. Maybe you should go do it.

You lie.

[FBaggins]

22. Gravity

Does it LOOK safe to climb up there?

And until pretty recently they didn't appear to KNOW that the pool was in such good shape.

[Fledermaus]

21. Why do they have run away every time the park a cement truck to fill it with water?

Last I read the had modified one of the cement pump trucks so it was remote controled......because of the radiation. You are so full of it.

[AtheistCrusader]

23. The whole site is 'hot' to various degrees.

The longer they are in the area, the higher their exposure, and that means losing workers when they hit certain limits.

In fairness to your point, whichever pool(s) are responsible for flinging fuel rod material up to 2 miles away, likely has a lot of very hot fuel pieces laying all over the roof of the building(s) it came from. That(those) building(s) would be very dangerous to stand near or on. It's possible that a single pool is responsible for all of that.