Towels used to mop up nuke spill (Kashiwazaki-Kariwa update)

http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200707250500.html

KASHIWAZAKI, Niigata Prefecture--When reporters entered the quake-damaged Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) nuclear reactor building here Wednesday, the scene was rather primitive.

Armed with paper towels, workers wearing protective clothing were wiping up radioactive water that had overflowed from a spent nuclear fuel storage pool when the magnitude 6.8 earthquake hit Niigata Prefecture on July 16.

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On the ceiling directly above the reactor containment vessel, a 310-ton crane dangled. It is used to maneuver the outer lid into place. The crane broke during the earthquake.

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There is no way to confirm the condition of the sealed reactor, but TEPCO officials said they believe the fuel rods are undamaged. "The amount of radioactivity in the water circulating around the fuel rods is not at abnormal levels, our tests show," TEPCO said.(IHT/Asahi: July 26,2007)

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It doesn't soak up enough fluid.

--p!

That's part of what they call "nuclear waste". The same goes for the gloves and protective clothing they use. They can't wash and re-use them.

Which is to say, damned near none.

But I suppose they could have spent the extra money on lead-lined suits, thick glass walls and telerobotic handling for cleanup, to give the reporters a proper show.

Who'd a thunk...

... but I doubt they were fair in their assessment of alternative technologies!
:P

Seriously though, it is a spill of marginally radioactive water so
paper towels are probably the most straightforward way to do it.
The workers were wearing protective clothing, the waste would be
added to the "ever-growing heap of low-level nuclear waste" that
everyone seems to be focussed on this week, and the water would be
mopped up (the purpose of the operation).

:shrug: