Energy Secretary Chu Says Reactor Core Is Damaged(70% of No.1's fuel rods, 1/3 of No.2)

WSJ ^ | 04/01/11 | STEPHEN POWER

[TigerLikesRooster]

APRIL 1, 2011, 2:35 P.M. ET.

Energy Secretary Chu Says Reactor Core Is Damaged

By STEPHEN POWER

WASHINGTON—Japanese authorities are "making headway" in their effort to stabilize the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Friday. But radiation levels in at least one of the reactor buildings are "significant," and most of the core of one of the reactors has been damaged, he added.

"There's still great concern" about the plant, Dr. Chu said to reporters at a breakfast organized by the Christian Science Monitor. "There's a lot of radioactivity in the reactor buildings, and that impedes beginning to slowly gain control of the reactor because of the exposure of the workers."

A Department of Energy spokeswoman clarified after the breakfast that Dr. Chu was referring to reports that as much as 70% of the fuel rods in Reactor No. 1 have been damaged and that as much as a third of the fuel rods in Reactor No. 2 have been damaged. (Dr. Chu had said at the breakfast that there are "significant levels of radiation" in Reactor No. 3. Citing "Japanese information given to us," the secretary also said that Reactor No. 2 had experienced "the most significant meltdown," with "as high as 70% of the core ... damaged.")

[TigerLikesRooster]

P!

[onedoug]

If the soetoro bunch claimed the sky was blue I´d seek verification elsewhere.

[I still care]

I found this an interesting video on the reactors.

It is a guy who teaches chemistry on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/user/periodicvideos#p/u/18/-bcrLiATLq0

It starts with simpler stuff but adds a few insights, because the professor actually was involved with a few of the reactors.

[CharlesWayneCT]

So Chu is basically repeating whatever he was told; it’s not something he knows, it’s just what we already heard.

[Eldon Tyrell]

Well that sure clarifies things. Not.

Any engineer could figure most of this out long ago, even with the media and administration driven hysteria.

Chu is a loser.

[catnipman]

“So Chu is basically repeating whatever he was told; it’s not something he knows, it’s just what we already heard.”

That’s all any of Obama’s cabinet, advisers and appointees can do, because not a single one of them knows a damn thing. Every last one of them was appointed for their ideology, not their knowledge or ability. The Obamunnist government is run by affirmative action babies, community organizers and assorted Marxist professors.

[aruanan]

“So Chu is basically repeating whatever he was told; it’s not something he knows, it’s just what we already heard.”

Basically. As Chu himself said when visiting the University of Chicago, he doesn't read the papers in his field, he has post-docs that do that for him.

[razorback-bert]

Chu also said, if they just paint the reactor white, everything will be okay.

[Daffynition]

US Sending World's Biggest Concrete Pump to Japan

Same pump manufacturer that worked on Chernobyl disaster By Mark Russell, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 1, 2011 12:50 PM CDT

The world's largest concrete pump—a 190,000-pound machine with a 230-foot boom called the "Putzmeister 70Z"—is being sent to Japan to help the troubled Fukushima reactors, reports the Augusta Chronicle. "There are only three of these pumps in the world, of which two are suited for this work, so we have to get it there as soon as we can," said the owner of the Georgia-based concrete company. "Time is very much a factor." The pump will pump water at first, but later will be used to move concrete to entomb the nuclear material, as was done in Chernobyl.

The pump's huge boom can be operated remotely, making it useful for the highly radioactive site. The crane is so big it needs to fly on the world's biggest cargo plane, the Russian-built Antonov 225, and requires special permits. Along with the American pump,a 190-foot pump is being sent from Vietnam and two 203-foot pumps are going from Germany. None of the pumps can be returned because all will be too contaminated by radiation.