Thursday, May 24, 2012

#Fukushima I Nuke Plant Reactor 3 TIP Room Survey Shows Door Damage, High Radiation Levels


The robot Quince 2 and human co-workers surveyed the TIP Room of Reactor 3. Unlike in the TIP Room of Reactor 2 (survey result announced on March 22, 2012), the radiation inside the Reactor 3 TIP Room was much higher. The door to the Reactor 3's TIP Room was blown out, making it impossible for Quince 2 to enter the room.

So, instead of Quince 2, human workers entered the room to measure the radiation level just beyond the broken door. No further measurement was done inside the room, probably because the level beyond the broken door was rather high (45 millisieverts/hour).

However, the visual inspection beyond the door by the human workers shows no notable damage to the equipment inside the room, according to the TEPCO's press release.

TIP stands for Traversing Incore Probe. There are gamma-sensitive and neutron-sensitive TIP sensors available. TEPCO's diagram shows the Room houses neutron-sensitive TIP sensors.

From TEPCO's press release, Japanese only for now (5/24/2012), on the survey done on May 23, 2012 (I put the English labels):



Needless to say, the radiation levels outside the TIP Room in Reactor 3 building are much higher than in Reactor 2. The equipment hatch shield plug area shows very high radiation levels, with the highest at 870 millisieverts/hour. However, in several locations along the guide rails in front of the plug, Packbot was measuring 1.6 sievert/hour radiation at 10 to 20 centimeters from the floor level last November.


Also note the very high humidity on the first page above. The equipment hatch shield plug, now we know, has been open.

For reference, here's the summary of the Reactor 2 TIP Room radiation levels, from TEPCO's press release on 3/22/2012:

5 comments:

kuma shutsubotsu chuui said...

Japan needs to get outside help, PRONTO. I was horrified (but not too surprised) when they refused serious international assistance from the very beginning. Anybody could see that this disaster was far beyond the abilities of one nation to deal with, and that it had to be gotten under control without delay.

Now it seems like an almost hopeless situation, and I'm frankly very nervous about living in Japan at this point, but there are various obstacles to my family's leaving the country. It does seem like TEPCO is walking a tightrope on this, though. Over the next five years or whatever, they could have 1,824 good days (as "good" as it gets for TEPCO, anyway), but all it takes is ONE bad one, or another earthquake, and all bets are off. Maybe not even just for Japan. Unbelievable.

I wouldn't exactly say I'm in denial, but there's so much about this that seems like a B-grade movie plot that I often have a hard time believing that it's really happening.

Anonymous said...

Curiouser and curiouser. I'm beginning to think there was a steam explosion when corium hit water on the bottom of the PCV. I wonder WHEN that happened. Maybe the hydrogen explosion was just an epi-phenomenon?

Atomfritz said...

Things must have been very violent there, large concrete parts broken off, the floor covered with concrete dust and bent I beams lying in the way.

Somehow hard to believe the TIP room subsequently visually inspected by a carbon based robot team reportedly doesn't indicate "notable" damage.
But, what does "no notable damage" in Tepco Japanese mean in English, anyway?

I really have difficulties to believe Tepco sent in these men without having cameras equipped.
Why doesn't Tepco show us the photos these men took?

Edward Meyer said...

Situation is Helpless, Irrational and Terrifying! (put the capital letters together...)

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