Fukushima Disaster: Robot Finds Possible Melted Nuclear Fuel

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An underwater robot investigating the inside of reactor 3 at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant has captured what is believed to be the first images of melted nuclear fuel deposits. Obviously, this is very bad news: melted nuclear fuel is one of the most toxic substances known to man, and it’s been pouring into the North Pacific for some time at an uncontrolled rate, affecting much of marine life.

This is the first time Tepco has found something likely to be melted fuel. When the utility sent a different robot into reactor 2 in January, it found black lumps sticking to the grating in the primary containment vessel but said they were difficult to identify. The objects spotted this time look like icicles hanging around a control rod drive attached to the bottom of the pressure vessel, which holds the core, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. said at an evening news conference Friday.
 
Well there is some minor bit of good news about this. The iodine will decay somewhat quickly. The Cesium and Cadmium, and Strontium and Thorium will take significantly longer. But due to their weights, they will quickly settle in the bottom of the northern pacific. Given the northern Pacific's depth and size, the contamination should be minimal.
 
This is our future!

latest
 
Well there is some minor bit of good news about this. The iodine will decay somewhat quickly. The Cesium and Cadmium, and Strontium and Thorium will take significantly longer. But due to their weights, they will quickly settle in the bottom of the northern pacific. Given the northern Pacific's depth and size, the contamination should be minimal.

So this is how mental gymnastics work for pro-nuclear people.
 
So this is how mental gymnastics work for pro-nuclear people.

As opposed to millions of tons of toxic waste that's currently being blown to the sky and to the oceans by normally working conventional power plants? Nuclear power is still by far the cleanest power producing method even with the accidents.
 
So this is how mental gymnastics work for pro-nuclear people.
Pro-nuclear people point out this plant was built a long time ago and technology has advanced significantly since then. Even in the era this was built it wasn't a good design, just one pushed by the United States in their efforts to prevent the Soviet Union from selling nuclear power faster than we could. Yes, the reason this type of reactor design was sold and propagated throughout the pro-western world had more to do with Cold War politics (or one-up-man-ship) than it being the best. Even modern light water reactors are safe enough that in most circumstances they will safely shutdown without human intervention in the case of catastrophic disaster. Much better designs exist and are in use in China and France, but due to lobbying, politics and general fear of nuclear energy will never exist in the United States. Yes, nuclear waste is a difficult problem, but not one that will go away if there were no nuclear power plants. Coal plants generate more nuclear waste (uranium and thorium) than a nuclear plant and that has to be dealt with, then there is medical waste and so on. If you want to go down the road of waste that is difficult to store (because you can't flush it away) solar panels generate far more non-disposable waste per watt over their lifetime than nuclear as well. So, yes we need to figure out how to store our modern lifestyle... which goes back to Fukushima Daiichi which was being decommissioned but like most plants, was storing spent fuel onsite because disposal is something no one wants to talk about.
 
Pro-nuclear people point out this plant was built a long time ago and technology has advanced significantly since then. Even in the era this was built it wasn't a good design, just one pushed by the United States in their efforts to prevent the Soviet Union from selling nuclear power faster than we could. Yes, the reason this type of reactor design was sold and propagated throughout the pro-western world had more to do with Cold War politics (or one-up-man-ship) than it being the best. Even modern light water reactors are safe enough that in most circumstances they will safely shutdown without human intervention in the case of catastrophic disaster. Much better designs exist and are in use in China and France, but due to lobbying, politics and general fear of nuclear energy will never exist in the United States. Yes, nuclear waste is a difficult problem, but not one that will go away if there were no nuclear power plants. Coal plants generate more nuclear waste (uranium and thorium) than a nuclear plant and that has to be dealt with, then there is medical waste and so on. If you want to go down the road of waste that is difficult to store (because you can't flush it away) solar panels generate far more non-disposable waste per watt over their lifetime than nuclear as well. So, yes we need to figure out how to store our modern lifestyle... which goes back to Fukushima Daiichi which was being decommissioned but like most plants, was storing spent fuel onsite because disposal is something no one wants to talk about.

You really love the Kool-Aid. Extra points for quoting the biased ridiculous "solar panel waste" study.
 
If its like the elephants foot of chernobyl, then its good that they found it now as if its solid they can clean it up.

In chernobyl, their melted fuel rod fuel originally formed into a huge shape like an elephants foot and resembled glass, 20 years later the glass is crumbling to dust which is much much more dangerous.

So, if what the japs have found is a solid glass like structure, then it should be easy, well as easy as these things can be to remove and dispose of in a safe manner, if they leave it then chances are it will turn to dust also and you dont want that in the atmosphere.
 
Ironically it was under water nuclear radiation in 1954 that caused a sleeping Godzilla to mutate, awaken and proceed to destroy Tokyo.

was just going to say they had to go and do it .. they just had to create godzilla ....
 
An underwater robot investigating the inside of reactor 3 at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant has captured what is believed to be the first images of melted nuclear fuel deposits. Obviously, this is very bad news: melted nuclear fuel is one of the most toxic substances known to man, and it’s been pouring into the North Pacific for some time at an uncontrolled rate, affecting much of marine life.

This is the first time Tepco has found something likely to be melted fuel. When the utility sent a different robot into reactor 2 in January, it found black lumps sticking to the grating in the primary containment vessel but said they were difficult to identify. The objects spotted this time look like icicles hanging around a control rod drive attached to the bottom of the pressure vessel, which holds the core, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. said at an evening news conference Friday.
So what exactly has been pouring into the North Pacific at an uncontrolled rate? The images show something that was solidified, so even if it is from melted fuel rods, it is solid now and can't be "pouring" anywhere. And all the "most toxic substances known to man" stuff is a bit over the top. There are far more toxic poisons around, like Vx nerve gas. Hell, even hemlock kills faster and at lower dosages than uranium or plutonium. Everybody is so afraid of radiation because they can't see it and don't understand it. I live close to a nuclear power plant, and yet people that live in Denver get twice as much radiation a year as I do, because of the altitude. Somehow people seem to live long healthy lives there. Amazing.
 
So what exactly has been pouring into the North Pacific at an uncontrolled rate? The images show something that was solidified, so even if it is from melted fuel rods, it is solid now and can't be "pouring" anywhere. And all the "most toxic substances known to man" stuff is a bit over the top. There are far more toxic poisons around, like Vx nerve gas. Hell, even hemlock kills faster and at lower dosages than uranium or plutonium. Everybody is so afraid of radiation because they can't see it and don't understand it. I live close to a nuclear power plant, and yet people that live in Denver get twice as much radiation a year as I do, because of the altitude. Somehow people seem to live long healthy lives there. Amazing.

I think that people are afraid of it because while deadly Vx doesn't have the half life that some radioactive materials do. They worry about their children and their children's children and so forth.
 
I think that people are afraid of it because while deadly Vx doesn't have the half life that some radioactive materials do. They worry about their children and their children's children and so forth.

Maybe they should educate themselves, instead of just worrying over stuff they don't understand.
 

Citation needed, as I had to look up the origins of that map based on the image name.

More recent studies:
https://phys.org/news/2016-07-pacific-ocean-fukushima.html

So yes, it was tremendously bad around the time of the disaster, the vast volume of the Pacific ocean has sense done it's job at diluting it. I wouldn't be eating any fish and we may finally get that massive Jaws like shark, but what the hell.
 
Pro-nuclear people point out this plant was built a long time ago and technology has advanced significantly since then. Even in the era this was built it wasn't a good design, just one pushed by the United States in their efforts to prevent the Soviet Union from selling nuclear power faster than we could. Yes, the reason this type of reactor design was sold and propagated throughout the pro-western world had more to do with Cold War politics (or one-up-man-ship) than it being the best. Even modern light water reactors are safe enough that in most circumstances they will safely shutdown without human intervention in the case of catastrophic disaster. Much better designs exist and are in use in China and France, but due to lobbying, politics and general fear of nuclear energy will never exist in the United States. Yes, nuclear waste is a difficult problem, but not one that will go away if there were no nuclear power plants. Coal plants generate more nuclear waste (uranium and thorium) than a nuclear plant and that has to be dealt with, then there is medical waste and so on. If you want to go down the road of waste that is difficult to store (because you can't flush it away) solar panels generate far more non-disposable waste per watt over their lifetime than nuclear as well. So, yes we need to figure out how to store our modern lifestyle... which goes back to Fukushima Daiichi which was being decommissioned but like most plants, was storing spent fuel onsite because disposal is something no one wants to talk about.

While you make some very important points (marketing of awful American nuclear power generators in the 1970s and 1980s, and the ridiculous choices made in storing the waste), comparing waste yield between the production of monocrystalline photovoltaic panels and the operation of other power sources is immensely skewed. Production is a one time yield, operation is an ongoing yield, and decommission is a one time yield. Try comparing each stage respectively across multiple power generation types before spreading this nonsense about solar panels being just as dirty. Yes, there are cheap and dirty methods employed worldwide to ramp up production and decrease cost of MPV panels. As regulations are implemented, the process will become far cleaner than it is right now.

Also, comparing production waste yield to operation waste yield is something the internal conbustion auto industry has tried against battery operated vehicles as well (to no sensible outcome).
 
Citation needed, as I had to look up the origins of that map based on the image name.

More recent studies:
https://phys.org/news/2016-07-pacific-ocean-fukushima.html

So yes, it was tremendously bad around the time of the disaster, the vast volume of the Pacific ocean has sense done it's job at diluting it. I wouldn't be eating any fish and we may finally get that massive Jaws like shark, but what the hell.

We're going to need a bigger containment vessel.
 
Perhaps bombing the reactor site will resolve the problem? Seems to be the our favorite solution to all problems.... when in doubt, blow it the f*ck up.

Obviously I'm joking. We should nuke it.

I don't know why but that made my damn day.. Face hurts from laughing, thank you very much!
 
Citation needed, as I had to look up the origins of that map based on the image name.

More recent studies:
https://phys.org/news/2016-07-pacific-ocean-fukushima.html

So yes, it was tremendously bad around the time of the disaster, the vast volume of the Pacific ocean has sense done it's job at diluting it. I wouldn't be eating any fish and we may finally get that massive Jaws like shark, but what the hell.

maxresdefault.jpg


can't wait!
 
The worst thing about this is my Mother is going to be saying "see I told you, you shouldn't be eating fish because of nuclear contamination". It's a lot of waste no doubt... but the damn Pacific ocean is huge, I need to take her out sailing so she gets a sense of scale. Nothing expands one's mind about the scale of the planet like blue water sailing. That said, this whole thing is a cluster fuck because TEPCO has sat on their hands and refused outside help. Fixing the melt through is going to be extremely difficult, especially since TEPCO will undoubtedly lie about being able to handle this, yet again. At this point I think there is just a online waiting list you can put yourself on to be the next company President and resign saying "I'm so sorry" while doing a dogeza.
 
The worst thing about this is my Mother is going to be saying "see I told you, you shouldn't be eating fish because of nuclear contamination". It's a lot of waste no doubt... but the damn Pacific ocean is huge, I need to take her out sailing so she gets a sense of scale. Nothing expands one's mind about the scale of the planet like blue water sailing. That said, this whole thing is a cluster fuck because TEPCO has sat on their hands and refused outside help. Fixing the melt through is going to be extremely difficult, especially since TEPCO will undoubtedly lie about being able to handle this, yet again. At this point I think there is just a online waiting list you can put yourself on to be the next company President and resign saying "I'm so sorry" while doing a dogeza.

It's too late. You can't blame your retardation on tepco :bored:
 
So this is how mental gymnastics work for pro-nuclear people.

You would be mistaken in thinking that I am pro or con. It's still a disaster no matter which way you slice it. But the effects of which might be somewhat mitigated.

Every power generation technology had it's drawbacks. Every single freaking one. And as another poster pointed out yes even solar is dirty. Indium rate earth elements (as well as a number of other derivatives) do require a very large amount of mining for very little power. And don't even get me started on the lithium for batteries. Look up lithium refining and see how much fresh water is wasted in settling ponds which become barren waste lands when the mine is done.

Uninformed hippocrits and extremist on both sides.
 
So what so nuclear material is INSIDE the nuclear reactor... time to fill with lead/cement
 
The worst thing about this is my Mother is going to be saying "see I told you, you shouldn't be eating fish because of nuclear contamination". It's a lot of waste no doubt... but the damn Pacific ocean is huge, I need to take her out sailing so she gets a sense of scale. Nothing expands one's mind about the scale of the planet like blue water sailing. That said, this whole thing is a cluster fuck because TEPCO has sat on their hands and refused outside help. Fixing the melt through is going to be extremely difficult, especially since TEPCO will undoubtedly lie about being able to handle this, yet again. At this point I think there is just a online waiting list you can put yourself on to be the next company President and resign saying "I'm so sorry" while doing a dogeza.

It will be hard and most difficult. Cutting up that reactor will be a nightmare. But there is hope.

Nasa might be getting in on this one. They have a special division just for telerobotics assembly/disassembly for space
And they are bullet hardened and tested in neutral gravity water. Combined with the experience gained at decomminshing 3 mile island it will make things easier eventually.

Still a disaster but not hopeless.
 
So this is how mental gymnastics work for pro-nuclear people.

Honestly, it has more relevant content to what you've posted. I don't think talking smack about the other person with nothing else is really going to win you an argument.

What's your input on the nuclear power option (obviously anti-nuclear)? Why? Any mental gymnastics of your own?

I'm curious if there are any similar maps like that from the Pacific in the 50's (atomic testing on various atolls in the Pacific). Those would be interesting, too. No matter what, that shit isn't good for the ocean or the things living in it. Hopefully, they can get that shit contained and cleaned up ASAP. I want to go fishing.
 
So what so nuclear material is INSIDE the nuclear reactor... time to fill with lead/cement

You can't leave it in place with a bunch of salt water right next door. It will have to be removed and buried deep in the mountains of central Japan. It's just going to take 50 years to do it, with the first 20 spent waiting out the hottest radioisotopes.
 
You can't leave it in place with a bunch of salt water right next door. It will have to be removed and buried deep in the mountains of central Japan. It's just going to take 50 years to do it, with the first 20 spent waiting out the hottest radioisotopes.
Look i know there are loads of issues with my idea but first thing to do is to seal it off to prevent further spread into groundwater and ocean from the diagram in the video there is contaminated water inside the reactor.
Oj4kg.png

from what i know both the round water things on either side are fubar there are cracks in the storage pool so fuel rods were relocated to undamaged presumed pools all of that empty area around the core can be filled with a polymer or cement to prevent leakage 50-100 years will still need to pass before any of this can be moved to a vault but would be better than letting the material out...
 
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