Research News
This radar image, obtained with the German Earth-observation satellite TerraSAR-X on 12 March 2011 at 21:43 CET, shows the effect of the tsunami on Higashi-Matsushima Airport and the port of Ishinomaki in the Sendai region on the east coast of Japan. The blue areas indicate flooding; the magenta-coloured areas reveal the extent of the destruction. Credit: DLR
KIT work group findings as PDF files:
The Future of Fukushima
In order to evaluate the extent and the consequences of the nuclear disaster after the earthquake and the tsunami in Fukushima, Japan, the Helmholtz Association established six work groups in the days after the earthquake of 11 March. Headed by the KIT, the experts analyse the situation in the affected reactor blocks and calculate the potential spreading of released radioactive particles. Their tasks include also the comparison of safety precautions between Japanese and German boiling water reactors, which now are subject to renewed investigation.
At present, the experts from the Helmholtz Centre Dresden-Rossendorf, from the Research Centre Jülich and from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) practically work around the clock. "The situation remains critical until every single reactor block features a closed fresh water cooling circuit again", says Dr.-Ing. Joachim Knebel, Spokesman of the Helmholtz Nuclear Safety Research Program and Chief Science Officer at the KIT. By now he works on the fact that only remote controlled robots outfitted with radiation resistant electronics and cameras can collect more detailed information regarding the damage inside the reactor blocks, leakage sites and the extent of a potential core meltdown without unnecessarily subjecting people to radiation. Even when the cooling circuits function again, a lot remains to be done: The reactor blocks have to be covered by a sealed hull of reinforced concrete, yet at the same time remain accessible because both cooling and the removal of the heat of radioactive decay need to be continually and reliably maintained for many years. Furthermore, a complete sealing of the power plant site is required to prevent the ingression of radioactive particles into the ground water as well as the release of radioactivity into the Pacific Ocean. Even though the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima cannot be compared to the disaster of Chernobyl, Japan has to prepare for a long period of clearing-up operation: 25 years after the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, 3,500 people work there daily to prevent the further contamination of the environment. The methods engineers estimate that a complete dismantling of the reactor will be attainable only in 2065 (Source: Nature, 471, 31 March 2011, 562-565). The findings of the work groups are published on the internet by way of generally comprehensibly worded background information, both on the Helmholtz Association's overview page and on the KIT's webpage on Japan.
