Reply #368: TEPCO admits fuel could be melting at nuke plant

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TEPCO admits fuel could be melting at nuke plant
Thursday 21st April, 07:10 AM JST

TOKYO —

An official at Tokyo Electric Power Co, the operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, admitted Wednesday that fuel of the plant’s No. 1 reactor could be melting.

At a press conference, TEPCO official Junichi Matsumoto said, ‘‘I’m not saying with certainty that (the fuel) has never melted,’’ while noting that the utility has not been able to confirm the condition of the reactor’s core.

Describing the possible meltdown, Matsumoto said it can be compared to a state in which molten fuel accumulates like lava, or a state in which fuel rods get exposed after their tubes were broken. TEPCO considers such states as a meltdown, he said.

Story http://japantoday.com/category/national/view/tepco-admits-fuel-could-be-melting-at-nuke-plant