Terry Blanton <hohlr...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Except that, from what I have read, when they take the unit down > for inspection, they store active fuel rods temporarily in the spent > fuel pool. Unit 4 was down for maintenance; but, I have not read if > they were inspecting the core. > For what it is worth, the NHK graphic simulations show unit 4 with no fuel in it. The discussions there confirm that the active fuel rods were placed in the spent fuel pond. I guess what Terry means is that an active fuel rod is hotter (in temperature) than ordinary depleted, spent fuel, and it has more highly radioactive byproducts. I wouldn't know about that, but it sounds plausible. What do they normally do with partially used fuel? Where else would they put it, other than the pond? I know that in the U.S. with some reactors they replace part of the core every year or so during refueling, not the entire core at one time. Unlike unit 4, the pond in unit 3 does not have any recently extracted fuel. Yet they were concentrating their efforts on the pond in unit 3. I assume that is because it has MOX in it. They have not mentioned MOX much on NHK. As I said, to some extent NHK seems to be whitewashing and playing down the risks. It is national TV, and it is often influenced by the government, but not as much as you might expect. At times even the P.M. and Sec. Edano have been more alarmist than the NHK announcers! As I mentioned, they have included interviews and commentary by people who excoriate the government and TEPCO. I have not heard any chicken-little type people. I am sure there are plenty of them in Japan, but I have not seen many in the mainstream press. I might be feeling chicken-little-ish myself if I lived in Tokyo. I might not leave town, but I would get the car gassed up and the overnight bags packed. If I had a small child I would send her off to see grandma. Hundreds of thousands of people have, in fact, left Tokyo. - Jed
