Mitsubishi Tech Support

  • Subscribe to our RSS feed.
  • Twitter
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Facebook
  • Digg

Tuesday, 1 November 2011

BREAKING: Xenon detected at Fukushima Daiichi No. 2

Posted on 18:07 by Unknown
DEVELOPING NEWS...

-TEPCO has injected borated water (boric acid suspension) into No. 2 reactor at Fukushima Daiichi after detecting Xenon-133 and Xenon-135 in the primary containment of the plant.

-The borated water injection lasted one hour, from 3 AM to 4 AM on Wednesday November 2, 2011.

-According to information released to NHK Japan, TEPCO cannot rule out (and this is my rewording of their release) some measurable fission rate in the demolished core structure.

-A look at the indication by TEPCO to NHK and a quick perusal of graphical data to the present shows no rise in PCV pressure or any of the measured temperatures at the plant. However, as I've noted many times, the state of derangement of the lower pressure vessel head... and the amount of fuel material exit from the pressure vessel... cannot be guaranteed or even accurately estimated. Thus, lower vessel head temperature may not be indicative of the temperature of the entire (demolished) core mass.

-TEPCO states that the Xenon concentration in the samples from the gas handling system is "low."

-NHK indicates a statement from NISA that there is little or no chance that temperature has risen enough to cause further melting ... which seems obvious at this point. (For those not familiar, it would be difficult for the mass to achieve sustained criticality at this point; what we might be looking at is very limited increase in fissions per unit time, leading to generation of these Xenon gases which are fission products.)

Xenon background:

Xenon is produced in a reactor as a product of fission; when the U-235 nucleus splits, the resulting pieces or "fission fragments" can be a number of different elements.

Xe-135 is produced directly from fission in a very small amount (~.2 to .3% of fission products) but is produced indirectly in larger amount from Tellurium 135 since the Te-135 decays in less than two minutes to I-135 which then decays with a half life of 6.7 hours to Xe-135. This Xenon, unless it absorbs a neutron (which it has a very high propensity to do - it is an impressive neutron absorber or "poison") will then decay with a half life of 9.13 hrs to Cesium 135.

It seems obvious then, considering the Xe-135 alone, that this finding indicates that there are fissions occurring. Fissions are indeed normal even in a shut down reactor, of course; they occur naturally.

TEPCO has injected borated water because boron is a significant neutron absorber; it is thus a "poison" and will absorb neutrons before they can be absorbed by U-235 and cause fission. Clearly TEPCO has considered that an increase in fissions per unit time may have occurred, or perhaps even a recriticality in a limited volume of the core material.. having stated explicitly that it cannot be ruled out.

Having said all this, the net probable effect on the total operational aspects of the plant itself, on safety, and on environmental release is probably ZERO. This is assuming a number of things; we will certainly be awaiting a press release or sitrep update from TEPCO in the later hours tonight.

DEVELOPING NEWS 9:32 PM EASTERN TUESDAY NOVEMBER 1 2011
ATOMIC POWER REVIEW

Update 1 - 9:45 PM Eastern - Both NHK and Kyodo News are now carrying news flashes on this story.

EDIT: November 3rd... Boric acid injection took place from 2:48 AM to 3;47 AM on November 1st.
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Posted in "boron", "fukushima daiichi", "recriticality", "TEPCO" | No comments
Newer Post Older Post Home

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Popular Posts

  • Nitrogen inerting drywells..
    Apparently the nitrogen injection to the drywell on No. 1 plant continues... and TEPCO has made a fairly revealing press release which inclu...
  • NuSource LLC - Press Release
    Press release on formation of NuSource LLC follows. MPR & Gavial Form Joint Venture, NuSource LLC, to Address Nuclear Industry Obsolesce...
  • Atomic History: Dresden-1
    In one of our previous discussions concerning the nature of reactor plant containment, we made considerable effort to detail the very early ...
  • Nuclear Icebreakers 101
    An addendum for National Nuclear Science Week - Day 3 In the previous post I gave the briefest overview of the history of the Russian fleet ...
  • Steam Generators: Design and details
    A recent NRC blog post ( see here ) brings up a matter that has come into focus of late at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in Californ...
  • San Onofre seismic study - Press release 4/27
    Press release below from SoCal Ed. Some very interesting news about a cooperative project to further investigate the seismic environment at...
  • San Onofre - Notification of Unusual Event 8/26
    Roughly half an hour ago, SCE (Southern California Edison) reported by Twitter that operators at the shut down San Onofre Nuclear Generating...
  • Well done article on Spent Fuel Storage
    Here is a link to an article worth reading. "Spent Nuclear Fuel Rests in Peace near Ft. St. Vrain." This article appeared in the N...
  • San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station Operating License to be Retired
    Press release courtesy Southern California Edison follows. --------- Media Contact: Media Relations, (626) 302-2255 San Onofre Nuclear Plant...
  • LNT Petition for US Citizens to Sign
    Friends, a new petition has been placed on the White House petition website, whose intended purpose is to raise awareness of how damaging th...

Categories

  • " fukushima daiichi"
  • "accident"
  • "alloy"
  • "ameren"
  • "american nuclear society"
  • "annealing"
  • "anniversary"
  • "ans"
  • "anti-nuclear"
  • "AP1000"
  • "arco"
  • "areva"
  • "asn"
  • "associated press" "NRC" "NEI"
  • "atomic journal"
  • "babcock"
  • "blackout"
  • "bloggers"
  • "boron"
  • "brazil"
  • "breeder reactor"
  • "breeder"
  • "browns ferry"
  • "browns ferry" "nine mile point"
  • "BWR"
  • "calhoun"
  • "callaway"
  • "carnival"
  • "chernobyl"
  • "china"
  • "chubu electric" "hamaoka"
  • "chubu" "hamaoka"
  • "chubu" "hamaoka" "tepco" "fukushima daiichi"
  • "chubu" "kyushu" "nisa"
  • "COL"
  • "commissioners"
  • "containment"
  • "contaminated"
  • "cooling"
  • "cooper" "ft calhoun" "flood" "missouri river"
  • "core damage"
  • "criticality"
  • "davis-besse"
  • "delta IV"
  • "dresden" "boiling water reactor" "containment"
  • "dry dock"
  • "dry well"
  • "earth day"
  • "earthquake"
  • "EBR"
  • "ebwr"
  • "education"
  • "elk river"
  • "embrittlement"
  • "enclosure"
  • "energy policy"
  • "equipment"
  • "fabrication"
  • "fermi"
  • "fire"
  • "flood"
  • "frontline"
  • "ft calhoun"
  • "ft calhoun" "oppd" "flood"
  • "ft st vrain"
  • "fukushima daiichi"
  • "fukushima daiichi" "BWR"
  • "fukushima daiichi" "nisa" "tepco"
  • "fukushima daiichi" "tepco"
  • "fukushima daiichi" "tepco" "dry well" "containment" "pressure vessel"
  • "fukushima daiichi" "tepco" "iaea"
  • "fukushima daiichi" "tepco" "kurion" "areva"
  • "fukushima daiichi" "tepco" "nisa"
  • "fukushima daiichi" "tepco" "nisa" "genkai" "pressure vessel"
  • "fukushima daiichi" "tepco" "nisa" "jaif"
  • "fukushima daiichi" "tepco" "nisa" "japan"
  • "fukushima daiichi" "tepco" "nisa" "jsc" "road map" "recovery"
  • "fukushima daiichi" "tepco" "nisa" "spent fuel" "pool"
  • "fukushima daiichi" "tepco" "nitrogen"
  • "fukushima daiichi" "tepco" "robot" "video"
  • "fukushima daiichi" "tepco" "tokai" "japco" "iaea"
  • "fukushima daiichi" "tepco" "tomari" "hokkaido"
  • "fukushima daiichi" "tepco" "tsunami"
  • "fukushima daiichi" "tepco" "video"
  • "fukushima daiichi" "tepco" "video" "youtube"
  • "fukushima daiichi" "TMI" "public opinion" "survey"
  • "fukushima daiichi" "video"
  • "fukushima daiichi" 7 8 plants economic plan TEPCO
  • "fukushima daiichi" cooling water release sea ocean nuclear reactor accident NISA TEPCO pit trench tunnel
  • "fukushima daiichi" nuclear reactor accident contaminated water barge Suzuran Rosatom TEPCO
  • "fukushima daiichi" nuclear reactor accident contaminated water sea radwaste condensers nitrogen hydrogen inert
  • "fukushima daiichi" nuclear reactor accident earthquake onagawa TEPCO tohoku BWR nitrogen
  • "fukushima daiichi" nuclear reactor accident IAEA TEPCO update briefing temperatures pressures
  • "fukushima daiichi" nuclear reactor accident japan update color dye containment fabric update
  • "fukushima daiichi" nuclear reactor accident leakage sea seawater contamination tunnel trench cable pit
  • "fukushima daiichi" nuclear reactor accident liquid glass sodium silicate TEPCO
  • "fukushima daiichi" nuclear reactor accident nitrogen hydrogen inert dry well drywell
  • "fukushima daiichi" nuclear reactor accident nitrogen inert radiolytic radiolysis hydrogen
  • "fukushima daiichi" nuclear reactor accident polymer leak concrete contaminated contamination reactor pressure vessel containment cooling
  • "fukushima daiichi" nuclear reactor accident seawater contamination iodine tunnel trench TEPCO NISA JAIF
  • "fukushima daiichi" nuclear reactor accident site update status project future
  • "fukushima daiichi" nuclear reactor accident sodium silicate liquid glass diagram drawing perspective pipe tunnel trench contamination sea seawater
  • "fukushima daiichi" nuclear reactor accident TEPCO NISA JAIF update
  • "fukushima daiichi" nuclear reactor accident update TEPCO JAIF NISA
  • "fukushima daiichi" nuclear reactor accident water leakage contamination workers found dead
  • "fukushima"
  • "gas cooled"
  • "genkai"
  • "genkai" "embrittlement" "brittle" "pressure vessel"
  • "genkai" "kyushu"
  • "hack job"
  • "hallam"
  • "head"
  • "hearing"
  • "hearings"
  • "higashidori"
  • "hitachi"
  • "HNPF"
  • "hurricane"
  • "hydrogen"
  • "IAEA"
  • "icebreaker"
  • "IFR"
  • "INES"
  • "injection"
  • "irene"
  • "irrelevant"
  • "jaczko"
  • "jaczko" "NRC"
  • "JAIF"
  • "japan"
  • "kurion"
  • "kyushu"
  • "laguna verde"
  • "lenin"
  • "licensing"
  • "loop"
  • "lunch"
  • "marcoule"
  • "mark I"
  • "melt"
  • "meltdown"
  • "mexico"
  • "mitsubishi"
  • "MK I" "containment" "suppression" "youtube" "video"
  • "mPower"
  • "mPower" "Bechtel" "TVA" "babcock"
  • "national nuclear science week"
  • "nei"
  • "new nuclear"
  • "NISA"
  • "nitrogen"
  • "no 5"
  • "no 6"
  • "north anna"
  • "NRC"
  • "NRTS"
  • "nuclear aftershocks"
  • "nuclear energy institute"
  • "nuclear history"
  • "nuclear icebreaker"
  • "office for nuclear regulation"
  • "op-ed"
  • "op-ed" "carnival"
  • "op-ed" "fukushima daiichi"
  • "opinion"
  • "oversight"
  • "palisades"
  • "pbs"
  • "peer review"
  • "poll"
  • "PRA"
  • "press"
  • "pressure vessel"
  • "pressurized thermal shock"
  • "primary to secondary leak"
  • "PTS"
  • "public attitudes"
  • "PWR"
  • "RBMK-1000"
  • "RBMK-1500"
  • "RBMK-2400"
  • "RBMK"
  • "reactor safety"
  • "reading list"
  • "recriticality"
  • "Reid"
  • "reporting"
  • "restart"
  • "risk"
  • "robot"
  • "rod adams" "glenn williams" "interview" "atomic show" "the street"
  • "safety"
  • "san onofre"
  • "sarry"
  • "SBO"
  • "sheldon station"
  • "shippingport"
  • "SMR"
  • "solar"
  • "songs"
  • "south africa"
  • "south texas project"
  • "spent fuel"
  • "SSBN"
  • "steam generator"
  • "steam generators"
  • "steel"
  • "stress tests"
  • "submarine"
  • "support"
  • "Svinicki"
  • "sylcor"
  • "sylvania-corning"
  • "TEPCO"
  • "tepco" "tohoku" "kyushu" "japan"
  • "TMI"
  • "tokyo electric"
  • "Toshiba"
  • "twitter"
  • "UK"
  • "update"
  • "vermont yankee"
  • "vessel"
  • "video"
  • "virgil c summer"
  • "virginia"
  • "vogtle"
  • "wash-1250"
  • "WASH"
  • "westinghouse"
  • "westinghouse" "AP1000" "NRC"
  • "xenon"
  • "youtube"
  • ANO
  • ANS
  • arkansas nuclear one
  • Babcock
  • brittle fracture
  • brookhaven
  • carnival
  • crystal river
  • decommissioning
  • earthquake
  • enriched uranium
  • Entergy
  • fintan dunne
  • FirstEnergy
  • fresno
  • fuel elements
  • fukushima daiichi
  • higashidori
  • hurricane
  • hurricanes
  • industrial accident
  • INES
  • kashiwazaki kariwa TEPCO earthquake
  • kenya
  • license amendment
  • MHI
  • mitsubishi
  • mPower
  • NEI
  • northern fleet
  • nrc
  • nuclear electricity project
  • nuclear history
  • nuclear submarines
  • onagawa tohoku leak earthquake
  • OSHA
  • oyster creek
  • palisades
  • press release
  • pressurized thermal shock
  • PTS
  • retire
  • russian navy
  • san onofre
  • sandy
  • sce
  • sherrell r greene
  • shutdown
  • SMR
  • socal ed
  • songs
  • southern california edison
  • spent fuel
  • spent fuel pool
  • spent fuel pools
  • status
  • steam generator
  • steam generators
  • surry
  • sustainable energy today
  • sylcor
  • sylvania-corning
  • TEPCO
  • tohoku electric power higashidori onagawa LOOP fuel pool cooling
  • tokyo electric power company
  • unusual event

Blog Archive

  • ►  2013 (71)
    • ►  October (5)
    • ►  September (5)
    • ►  August (9)
    • ►  July (5)
    • ►  June (6)
    • ►  May (2)
    • ►  April (8)
    • ►  March (13)
    • ►  February (13)
    • ►  January (5)
  • ►  2012 (159)
    • ►  December (6)
    • ►  November (7)
    • ►  October (13)
    • ►  September (7)
    • ►  August (19)
    • ►  July (15)
    • ►  June (16)
    • ►  May (17)
    • ►  April (13)
    • ►  March (14)
    • ►  February (14)
    • ►  January (18)
  • ▼  2011 (270)
    • ►  December (22)
    • ▼  November (21)
      • New TEPCO video- November 30, 2011
      • TEPCO reporting on vessel failure
      • Details of nitrogen injection at Fukushima Daiichi
      • Erroneous readings at Fukushima Daiichi No. 2
      • Carnival 80 online now
      • PRA and Public Knowledge: WASH-740/1250/1400
      • Hydrogen gas / Fukushima Daiichi
      • Carnival No. 79
      • Radioactive water at Fukushima Daiichi - new video
      • Xenon at Fukushima Daiichi No. 2 - Gone!
      • Carnival 78!
      • New and interesting TEPCO video from November 2 th...
      • Desalination of water at Fukushima Daiichi
      • Fukushima Daiichi - Radioactively contaminated wat...
      • Xenon at Fukushima Daiichi No 2: Case closed?
      • Xenon / Fukushima Daiichi No. 2 - Thursday afterno...
      • Xenon detection - Fukushima Daiichi No. 2 - Thursd...
      • Xenon detected at Fukushima Daiichi No. 2 again
      • Xenon detected at Fukushima Daiichi No. 2 - UPDATE
      • BREAKING: Xenon detected at Fukushima Daiichi No. 2
      • Reactor restart at Genkai (Japan)
    • ►  October (20)
    • ►  September (21)
    • ►  August (17)
    • ►  July (23)
    • ►  June (24)
    • ►  May (44)
    • ►  April (78)
Powered by Blogger.

About Me

Unknown
View my complete profile