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Publicerad den 7 nov 2013
Japan is bracing itself for the most dangerous operation at the Fukushima nuclear plant since it was crippled by a quake and tsunami in March 2011. The company running the facility plans to move radioactive fuel rods to safe storage. RT's Alexey Yaroshevsky is in Japan for us. Christina Consolo, Founder and Host of Nuked Radio, doubts that engineers will be able to pull this off - given the level of damage at the plant.Publicerad den 7 nov 2013
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Japan to begin removal of fuel rods from Fukushima plant
RT 2013-11-07
TEPCO is preparing to begin the dangerous task of extracting over 1,500 nuclear fuel rods from the Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant. The risky operation is an essential step in to stabilize the site, in a process that could take decades.
Removing the spent fuel from a pool inside the Fukushima Daiichi plant’s fourth reactor presents significant risks given the radioactivity of the rods is 14,000 times more than what was released during the 1945 Hiroshima bombing. A slight mishap could release a huge amount of radiation into the atmosphere.
The removal of fuel is part of regular work at any nuclear power plant, but "conditions are different from normal because of the disaster," said company spokeswoman Mayumi Yoshida.[...]
http://rt.com/news/fukushima-fuel-rod-removal-365/
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Riskfyllt arbete i Fukushima när radioaktiva bränslestavar skall flyttas
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Vidareläsning:
-Japan shuts down last nuclear reactor-
SvaraRaderaRT September 15
Thirty months after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japan is set to become - at least temporarily - a nuclear power free country by shutting down the last of its 50 atomic reactors.
Kansai Electric Power Co's 1,180 MW Ohi No.4 reactor in Fukui Prefecture is set to be disconnected from the power grid on September 15 and will be shut down indefinitely for maintenance and inspection.
This will be the first time Japan is without nuclear power since July 2012. Prior to the earthquake and tsunami that destroyed the Fukushima power plant in March 2011, Japan generated roughly 30% of its electrical power from nuclear energy. Japan is turning to fossil-fuel alternatives to fill the gap.
"Safety is important, but if you waste time, that too has an effect on safety. The Fukui nuclear power plant sites have a long history and respond to risks. My position is therefore different from other prefectural governors," said Fukui Governor Issei Nishikawa as Japan was in the process of deciding which reactors were safe to restart based on new nuclear regulations introduced in July.
A number of nuclear power operators applied in July to reopen under new rules adopted after the Fukushima disaster. However gaining approvals will not be easy as industry regulator are still worried about the safety concerns, following continuing contamination of ground water from the leaking water storage tanks at Fukushima. Industry projections for a re-start vary from as early as December to mid-2014. Shikoku Electric Power's Ikata plant, Kyushu Electric's Sendai plant and Hokkaido Electric's Tomari plant are among those likely to be the first to re-start. [...]
http://rt.com/news/japan-shuts-last-reactor-878/
-Fuel rod removal: Fukushima’s most dangerous operation yields first successes-
SvaraRaderaRT November 21
Workers at the Fukushima nuclear power plant have successfully removed the first nuclear fuel rods from a cooling pool suspended above ground in what is one of the most dangerous operations ever attempted in nuclear history.
Already riddled with problems, the complex process of cleaning up and decommissioning the plant consists of many components. The removal of these rods is of paramount importance for safety and the prevention of another nuclear catastrophe.
Each fuel assembly contains 50 to 70 fuel rods – there are a total of 22 assemblies that have been transported today aboard a trailer to another, newer, storage pool on the final day of an operation that lasted four days, according to a statement by Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), Reuters reports.
What used to be done by computer will now be an entirely manual process, because of the tilted position of the cooling pools, which was affected by the tsunami and earthquake that battered the power plant in 2011.
The reason is that computers are programmed only to respond to the exact position of a fuel rod. With those positions now offset, the operation is a painstaking manual process. Each time the fuel rods rub together or are subjected to shaking, the workers risk unleashing incredible amounts of radiation.
There are more than 1,500 potentially damaged fuel assemblies located in Reactor No. 4 – the most unstable part of the power plant. It was offline at the time of the 2011 catastrophic earthquake and tsunami, which is why, unlike the other three, its core didn't go into meltdown. Instead, hydrogen explosions blew the roof off the building and severely damaged the structure – a wholly different problem.
[...]
However,
Reactor No. 4 had it easy. Other reactors that sustained heavy damage and were subject to meltdowns also contain fuel assemblies that will need to undergo similar procedures, but it will all be much more difficult.
As this is taking place, the plant continues to be plagued by the same problems it has suffered since the catastrophe: radioactive water seeping into the ocean, a lack of adequate storage space for it, the risk of tremors or quakes and rising radiation levels.
The cleanup of the plant and the surrounding Fukushima prefecture will cost tens of billions of dollars and is expected to take decades, already causing a huge drain on the government’s resources, which stepped in after it became apparent TEPCO could not handle the costs on its own.
http://rt.com/news/fukushima-nuclear-fuel-rods-072/