Nuke reactor pictures show rust and radiation, but no fuel
Source: Agencies |
January 20, 2012, Friday
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THE first look inside one of Japan's tsunami-hit nuclear reactors showed radiation, steam and rusty metal surfaces scarred by 10 months' exposure to high temperatures and humidity.
The steam-blurred photographs, taken by remote control yesterday, found none of the reactor's melted fuel but confirmed a stable reactor temperature and showed no major damage caused by the earthquake last March, said Junichi Matsumoto, spokesman for the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co.
TEPCO workers inserted an endoscope through a hole in the containment vessel at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant's No. 2 reactor, hoping to better assess conditions.
Results of the 70-minute operation were mixed. Some parts photographed were not immediately identifiable, and experts are trying to work out what the photographs show, Matsumoto said. Radiation was apparent as it interfered with the electronic device and was visible as static on the images.
The photographs also showed that the inner wall of the container had heavily deteriorated after 10 months of exposure to high temperatures and humidity, he added.
"Given the harsh environment in which we had to operate, we did quite well. It's a first step," Matsumoto said. "But we could not spot any signs of fuel, unfortunately."
He said it would take more time and better technology to get to the melted fuel, most of which has fallen down into the area that the endoscope could not reach. TEPCO hopes to use the endoscope to look inside the two other reactors that had meltdowns.
Three of six reactors at the Fukushima plant went into meltdown after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami knocked out the plant's cooling systems and set off the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986.
Yesterday's probe recorded the temperature inside the containment vessel at 44.7 Celsius - confirming it stayed below boiling point, qualifying as a "cold shutdown state," the stable condition the government had declared in December, despite skepticism from experts.
The government has said that it will take 40 years to fully decommission the plant.
The steam-blurred photographs, taken by remote control yesterday, found none of the reactor's melted fuel but confirmed a stable reactor temperature and showed no major damage caused by the earthquake last March, said Junichi Matsumoto, spokesman for the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co.
TEPCO workers inserted an endoscope through a hole in the containment vessel at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant's No. 2 reactor, hoping to better assess conditions.
Results of the 70-minute operation were mixed. Some parts photographed were not immediately identifiable, and experts are trying to work out what the photographs show, Matsumoto said. Radiation was apparent as it interfered with the electronic device and was visible as static on the images.
The photographs also showed that the inner wall of the container had heavily deteriorated after 10 months of exposure to high temperatures and humidity, he added.
"Given the harsh environment in which we had to operate, we did quite well. It's a first step," Matsumoto said. "But we could not spot any signs of fuel, unfortunately."
He said it would take more time and better technology to get to the melted fuel, most of which has fallen down into the area that the endoscope could not reach. TEPCO hopes to use the endoscope to look inside the two other reactors that had meltdowns.
Three of six reactors at the Fukushima plant went into meltdown after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami knocked out the plant's cooling systems and set off the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986.
Yesterday's probe recorded the temperature inside the containment vessel at 44.7 Celsius - confirming it stayed below boiling point, qualifying as a "cold shutdown state," the stable condition the government had declared in December, despite skepticism from experts.
The government has said that it will take 40 years to fully decommission the plant.
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