I'll ask again: Is it POSSIBLE to entomb the reactors in Japan now? Thanks. nt

[gateley]

[peoli]

1. Michio Kaku was calling for it early on

[gateley]

7. Totally agree with him, but check out the answers below. Either

we can't do it YET, or, if I'm understanding the "bottom's gone", we can't do it at ALL! :scared: :grr:

[tekisui]

2. My understanding is that can't be done until it sufficiently cools.

And, that has yet to happen.

[gateley]

3. Thanks - I was wondering what they were waiting for! nt

[franzia99]

10. This is what I think I've read also, but don't know for sure. It wasn't completely clear.

[hlthe2b]

11. that is my understanding as well...

:shrug: Frustrating and devastating beyond any real words....

[kickysnana]

4. No the bottoms are gone. n/t

[gateley]

5. Holy shit. Sorry I asked. Not that I know exactly what that means,

but is sounds really really really bad, like they don't have any options! :scared:

[godai]

13. Bottoms are NOT gone. The sky is not falling.

Be prepared for a lot of misinformation.

[Tx4obama]

14. Yes the bottom is gone. A couple of the buildings didn't even have concrete containment bottoms.

This is the reason it's LEAKING INTO THE OCEAN.

[godai]

15. The bottom? Which bottom? You are wrong. n/t

[tekisui]

16. The bottom of at least one of the reactors appear to be gone.

You can not say with certainty that the poster is wrong.

[Logical]

17. You are 100% incorrect. Please prove it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! n-t

[Liberal_in_LA]

18. should they have? Do most nuke plants have concrete bottoms?

[DeSwiss]

6. Yes very likely POSSIBLE, however....

...those who do so must understand that they're giving their lives in the process. They're now calling them The New Samurai. At current levels of radiation, only 10 to 15 minutes exposure is possible before a year's worth of radiation has been absorbed by the workers, and maybe even more than that since many areas of the plant do not have functioning radiation monitors.

The soldiers who were called up at Chernobyl to entomb that one reactor, were all given medals.

At Fukushima there are four reactors in various stages of meltdown not to mention the several spent-fuel cooling pools with 44 years worth of radioactive rods that are also being exposed.

[gateley]

8. It just gets worse. Do you know if they were initially trying to "save"

one or more of them?

I've gotten three different answers and I hate each one. :(

Those workers -- I'm speechless. And heartbroken.

[DeSwiss]

12. Not sure about any attempts to "save" the reactor(s)....

...and I'm not sure it was ever possible. From the start the area has been largely inaccessible due to the heat and high radiation levels, so saving any of it was problematic from the gitgo.

- Likewise, the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corium_%28nuclear_reactor%29">corium which is a lava-like substance that oozes from the reactor core, can melt concrete.

[Warren DeMontague]

19. From what I've read, the initial delay in using seawater to cool the reactors was due to TEPCO not

wanting to junk their investment in them.

Had that been done sooner, all this might have been averted.

[Poll_Blind]

9. I had heard about a week or so ago that it was too hot for the concrete to set...

...properly and they were concerned about making more radioactive matieral. If you look up "induced radioactivity" (I think that's the right term) you'll see what I mean.

And that's on top of everthing else that's messed up about the situation.

PB

[gateley]

20. I know so little about it, that even the conflicting info/responses

all make a kind of sense to me! Your post included. :7 Thanks.

[divvy]

21. See the Chernobyl Sarcophagus ...

<edit to fix links>

Construction of the Chernobyl sarcophagus.

The first task before construction started was to build a cooling slab under the reactor to prevent the hot nuclear fuel from burning a hole in the base. Coal miners were called up to dig the necessary tunnel below the reactor and by June 24, 1986 four hundred coal miners had built the 168 metre (551 ft) long tunnel. When the building became overly radioactive it became impossible to directly screw down the nuts and bolts or apply any direct welding to the sarcophagus, so this work was done by robots.

The seams of the sarcophagus, however, were not properly sealed. The entire construction process consisted of eight stages: clearing and concreting of territory around reactor unit 4, erection of initial ferro-concrete protective walls around the perimeter, construction of separation walls between units 3 and 4, cascade wall construction, covering of the turbine hall, mounting of a high-rise buttress wall, erection of supports and installation of a reactor compartment covering and finally the installation of a ventilation system.
More than 400,000 m3 of concrete and 7,300 tonnes of metal framework were used during the erection of the sarcophagus.

From Wikipedia here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_Nuclear_Power_Plant_sarcophagus

The old sarcophagus will be replaced.

On September 17, 2007, it was announced that a new steel containment structure named the New Safe Confinement (NSC) would be built to replace the aging and hastily-built sarcophagus that currently protects reactor unit 4. The project, financed by an international fund managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), will be designed and built by the French-led consortium Novarka, which includes the companies Bouygues and Vinci. Novarka will build a giant arch-shaped structure out of steel, 190 m (623 ft) wide and 200 m (656 ft) long to cover the old crumbling concrete dome that is currently in use.

This steel casing project is expected to cost $1.4 billion (£700 million, €1 billion), and expected to be completed in 2013.<9> A separate deal has also been made with the American firm Holtec to build a storage facility within the exclusion zone for nuclear waste produced by Chernobyl.

From Wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_Nuclear_Power_Plant

[CJvR]

22. Technically sure.

Chernobyl was entombed under far worse conditions. 10% of the core scattered over the landscape and the rest melting down and burning is a far worse starting position.

However things can be handled much better, the spent fuel pools can be emptied and they might even be able to extract some of the damaged fuel from the cores for a much better long term soultion.