US Gives Concrete Pump to Fukishima From Their Mox Nuclear Fuel Maker Being Built on Savannah River

chronicle.augusta.com...

The world's largest concrete pump, deployed at the construction site of the U.S. government's $4.86 billion mixed oxide fuel plant at Savannah River Site, is being moved to Japan in a series of emergency measures to help stabilize the Fukushima reactors.

All the nations of the world are or already have sent expertise and equipment:

In addition to the equipment now at Fukushima and the two 70-meter pumps being moved from the U.S., a contractor in Vietnam has given up a 58-meter pump so it can be diverted to Japan, and two 62-meter pumps in Germany were loaded on Wednesday for transport to Tokyo.

This really was added as a side line in the article but at the Savannah River, in Aiken County, this is what is being built and that is why this giant pump is being diverted to use at Fukishima. I would be protesting against this after the Japanese Reactor Disaster???

The MOX complex, scheduled to open in 2016, is designed to dispose of 32 metric tons of plutonium from dismantled nuclear bombs by blending small amounts of the material with uranium to make nuclear fuel for commercial power reactors. Its design calls for 170,000 cubic yards of concrete strengthened with 35,000 tons of reinforcing steel bars.

I believe this was touched upon elsewhere on ATS, but the simple fact remains that they cannot simply throw a bunch of concrete onto the reactors. Even if mixed with an additive the heat from a runaway nuclear reaction ( I think we all accept thats what we are dealing with now ) would simply be too great. These trucks may, however, be used to continue pumping water onto the reactors - Already proven to be a woefully ineffective strategy.

This isnt very far from me.

Interesting stuff! Maybe Ill take a trip up there...

they are using concrete pumps to put water right where it's needed. They are probably not going to pump concrete just water

reply to post by mikellmikell
Yes, your right in they will use it for water but it says in the article that it will be used for concrete later on:

Initially, the pump from Savannah River Site, and another 70-meter Putzmeister now at a construction site in California, will be used to pump water -- and later will be used to move concrete.

These pumps could be used to pump heavy borate mud into the cooling ponds of the reactors.

Heavy borate mud would be a lot less likely to leak out of small cracks and would trap a lot of the radioactive particles.

Plus in a couple years when the radioactivity dropped and the fuel cooled the mud could be removed along with the fuel rods a lot easier then concrete.

It might take 10 years before they could start removeing all the fuel but it would be a lot better then encasing in concrete on site forever.

It took 20 years plus the invention of radioactive protected robots to clean up three mile island.
We have a lot better robots now they just need to contain the reactors till they cool.
heavy borate mud would do that.