Fukushima Power Plant Might Face New Problems
According to the website nytimes.com, the dangers from the Fukushima nuclear power plant are still present, despite of the bravery displayed by the electricians who worked at the location in the past week.
They ignored the heat waves and the radiation in order to get their job done, but even so, the workers will have to face some of the most challenging tasks in the days to come. They will have to drain the radioactive water from the plumbing and pipes of the emergency cooling system. The biggest problem is the fact that these cooling systems are located right beneath the damaged reactors and getting to them will be very dangerous. It is believed that the water has been contaminated by radiation, and the experts have made public announcements, stating that the infants should not be given tap water. Michael Friedlander, who has worked in the domain for more than 13 years, said that these next 10 to 14 days are very crucial, because if nothing bad happens in these days, and if the problems are solved, then the situation can be considered solved. The nuclear engineers are still worried that the core might melt, and in that case, a huge wave of radiation might be sent in the air. The main culprit might be the salt from the seawater, which might cause the temperatures to rise, and thus the uranium might melt.
Richard T. Lahey Jr., who was General Electric’s chief of safety research for the reactors when they were installed at the Japanese nuclear power plant, said that since the workers used salt water in order to take care of the problem, the salt might have gathered in the reactors. It is believed that about 57,000 pounds of salt gathered in the first reactor, and 99,000 gathered in the second and third one. It is unknown how much of that salt is still combined with the water, and how much of it has deposited on the rods. If they have deposited on the rods, then it is very likely that they prevent their cooling, and thus, they might lead to a release of radioactive material. There is also the possibility for the salt to be deposited on the floor of the reactor and not on the rods. The Japanese experts have stated that some of the water which was used in order to cool down the reactors has returned to the ocean. Because of that, it is believed that a certain portion of the ocean might have been contaminated with radioactive material.
A Japanese official has stated that it is possible for a fresh water cool down system to be repaired in the following days, and if that will be achieved, then fresh water will be used instead of salt one. The radiation issue is pretty interesting, as iodine has been detected in Tokyo’s tap water, and the radiation cloud is moving towards Europe. Because of this, it is believed that the amount of radiation released into the atmosphere is much higher than it was initially believed. The reactor is equipped with an emergency cooling system which sends thousands of gallons of fresh water per minute, but it is very risky to use it. In case if it is not used in the proper manner, the system might fail, and if that would happen, then the radiation levels would increase even more. It is very crucial for the one who operates the system, to know what he is doing.
It is unknown what the situation will lead to. Initially it was stated that the problem has been solved, but on Tuesday, the workers from the power plant were asked to evacuate the area, because black smoke started to rise from the nuclear reactor. The number 3 reactor was the problematic one, and that raised reasons for concern, as it is the most dangerous of them all. It is made out of both uranium and plutonium, which when combined can be really dangerous. The number 5 reactor seems to have problem as well, as it stopped from working on Wednesday, even if it was shut down at the time when the earthquake took place. It is unknown why it stopped, but the workers have already started investigating the problem.
