US nuke experts say Japanese engineers face huge Fukushima plant management task
April 20th, 2011 - 3:22 pm ICT by ANIWashington, Apr 19 (ANI): Veterans of the Three Mile Island cleanup in Pennsylvania have said Japanese engineers need to improve the condition of Fukushima Daiichi reactors.
The Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin County, United States suffered a heavy setback after an accident led to a core meltdown in unit two of the plant in 1979. It was the most significant accident in the history of the USA commercial nuclear power generating industry, resulting in the release of up to 481 P Bq (13 million curies) of radioactive gases, and less than 740 GBq (20 curies) of iodine-131.
Comparing the two disasters, Lake Barrett, the senior Nuclear Regulatory Commission engineer at Three Mile Island during the early phases of the cleanup, said: “The cores are probably really similar, partially melted.”
“It was a walk in the park compared to what they’ve got,” The New York Times quoted him, as saying.
However, he pointed out several key differences in the aftermath of the accidents.
In Japan, four separate reactors are damaged, and fixing each one is complicated by the presence of its leaking neighbours, he said, adding that a major infusion of equipments would be required to replace parts like pumps and switchgears that were destroyed by the tsunami.
Citing weather as a major factor, the veteran engineers who worked in the damaged nuke US plant from 1979 to 1993, have warned that Tokyo Electric Power has only a few weeks to patch up the three smashed secondary containments before the coming rainy season because it might wash more contamination into the environment.
They suggested that the first task ahead of the Japanese engineers is to fill the reactors and the spent fuel pool with water that can be pumped out again, cooled and then returned to the reactors.
Right now the reactors are in “feed and bleed” mode, and such bleeding allows radiation leakage. “Whatever you bleed is letting cesium out,” Barrett said, referring to the radioactive isotope.
Cooling with recirculating water could end releases of radioactive materials, but will require new pumps and possibly new piping, experts added. (ANI)
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Tags: cesium, commercial nuclear power, core meltdown, curies, dauphin county, history of the usa, iodine 131, japanese engineers, lake barrett, management task, new york times, nuclear generating station, nuclear regulatory commission, plant management, radioactive gases, reactors, switchgears, three mile island, tokyo electric, walk in the park