How much radioactive material is at the Fukushima plant?
On last night’s Rachel Maddow Show, Ms. Maddow provided some interesting information about how much radioactive fuel might be on site at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant. We’ve provided a quick overview below, but the show’s presentation and graphics are much better than what we can provide. Click here to watch the segment on “How much radioactive material is at the Fukushima plant?”
Chernobyl – 180 tons of fuel exploded into the atmosphere
|
Nuclear fuel believed to be on site at Fukushima Dai-ichi** |
|||||||
|
No. 1 |
No. 2 | No. 3 | No. 4 | No. 5 | No. 6 |
Common spent fuel pond located somewhere on site |
|
| Reactor Fuel |
70 tons |
90 tons | 90 tons * | 90 tons | 90 tons |
130 tons |
|
| Spent Fuel Pools*** |
50 tons |
100 tons | 90 tons | 130 tons | 160 tons |
150 tons |
Unknown |
| Total |
120 tons |
190 tons | 180 tons | 220 tons | 250 tons |
280 tons |
1,240 tons |
* Reactor No. 3 is reported to have reprocessed fuel which means there is a mixture of uranium and plutonium in the fuel rods.
** This information was reported by HKN News Japan, and was verified by MSNBC through Japanese and American nuclear experts as being their best estimate of the nuclear fuel on site at Fukushima Dai-ichi.
*** The spent fuel is less hot and less radioactive than the reactor fuel in the core, but without knowing how old the spent fuel rods are there is know way to know what the total radioactivity house at the plant is.
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