Work has begun to cover the Fukushima Daiichi intake canal situated at units 1-4. A crane barge is pouring two layers of grout-cement mixes on the sea bed facing the station to reduce the possibility of radioactivity spreading.
At unit 4, operator Tepco was planning to start using in mid-March a robot submersible to survey the spent fuel pond debris. The self-propelled ROV, supplied by Hitachi-GE nuclear energy, carries a camera and lighting. The fuel pool is about 11.5m deep, and the fuel rods stored at the bottom of the pool are about 4.7m high. The pool is currently covered by floats to prevent the ingress of other contaminants. The ROV will be passed through this slit to reach the bottom of the tank.
It is also planning to survey the bottom of the empty reactor vessel (which is under about 25m of water) with a camera and lighting. It would aim to survey the bottom of the reactor well, the top of the control rod drive housings, and the shroud supports. This work prepares the way for workers to shift control rods currently stored in the cask pit to the bottom of the reactor during fuel removal from the spent fuel pond.
On the anniversary of the crisis, 11 march, Tepco published an overview of work on the site, available on www.youtube.com/neimagazine
Regular updates may be found on the website of our sister journal, Nuclear Engineering International, reachable on <www.neimagazine.com> or by clicking on the link in the navigation bar to the left of this page.
The following sites are also posting continuing updates:
<http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/index-e.html>
<http://www.iaea.org/>
<http://www.jaif.or.jp/english/>
<http://bravenewclimate.com/2011/03/15/tepco-reactor-status/>
<http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/>
<http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/index-e.html>
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