Evaluation of the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima Nuclear Facility. The document paints a grim picture of evolving threats to the afflicted facility.
• mounting stresses placed on the containment structures as they fill with radioactive cooling water, making them more vulnerable to rupture in one of the aftershocks rattling the site
• the possibility of explosions inside the containment structures due to the release of hydrogen and oxygen from seawater pumped into the reactors
• semimolten fuel rods and salt buildup impeding the flow of fresh water meant to cool the nuclear cores
• new questions about whether pouring water on nuclear fuel in the absence of functioning cooling systems can be sustained indefinitely
In a related development, Congressman Edward Markey announced today that he had information indicating that the fuel in reactor number 2 had melted through and breached the containment vessel of that reactor, an ominous development that may have unpredictable effects.• the possibility of explosions inside the containment structures due to the release of hydrogen and oxygen from seawater pumped into the reactors
• semimolten fuel rods and salt buildup impeding the flow of fresh water meant to cool the nuclear cores
• new questions about whether pouring water on nuclear fuel in the absence of functioning cooling systems can be sustained indefinitely
“I have been informed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that the core of Unit Two has gotten so hot that part of it has probably melted through the reactor pressure vessel,” said Markey, a prominent nuclear critic in the House of Representatives
Leaked Study from Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Fukushima Far from Over « Climate Denial Crock of the Week
Leaked Study from Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Fukushima Far from Over « Climate Denial Crock of the Week
