European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 10, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Magazine employees of three the Stem nue fear Power Plant Al Maui Walt p�., during their lunch break. The biggest Riddle at three mile Island by Walter Sullivan new York times w h it n of Efi mors 05t con rut of the unit is Ric if at Thil o Mito Chi Hown. A. On March 23. 1979, Mikl that Penn Sylvain Revoit Hio United Stales might be a it cd in radioactive 1 his did not happen. The Reader had to Vic Nelv remained intact As each Poce o n a evidence tins emerged How Sci. Hie in Otteni in retrospect became More serious. Lat summer Learned thai Mono radio Etric fuel vivid accumulated in the Bottom Otrie reactor s vessel now they have Toff that rather than simply breaking i rough Ihu door to the pcs of s Bollom. The Ludw-,0 hoi Hal it melted tit Tough in inner Wall. This Rancans Hal me biggest Riddle Aboul Iho Accident is Why inc stip Chol us did not also melt through Iho Conta a Mil and escape the answer should Nab i Hollar prediction of the course of other nuclear accidents "1c Llo Votkl Mic hot Okic de Iwais e. Pm Lei sat in a recent Intel ice the Gnu nude corp. Suhich operates Tia three Kwh Island plan and is conducting the cleanup of unil 2. Tha reactor consoled of 177 Lubos tilled with uranium As the uranium atoms spin they gave of heal Itiat was absorbed by valor within the a Taclof the haal in that Walcer was Transl Cirod to watch p cd ii ouija slice Caldi duping Iho Ron Toi Rebl wily col and supplying cow cry for a Urbinas Togo Gornto electricity to the Accident Tho n the i Factor drained Ovay unknown o the on Nicks us Posig Tho upper half of the lubes which Bonama Oil Ramoly hot and a cited details now cmdr my silo Iho Routs that much or the molten tuck allowed it burned its Wray through Tho Motal thing of the Pitcl car reaction chamber into ils hollow Walls. It then cascaded Down into he stainless steel bowl thai is inc i Factor vessel s aloof and Tho lat significant Barrier or Yuenling escape of he vol ii is now estimated Hal about 30 tons of Luel lie m Tho Bottom of the containment vessel hidden rom Dirchel observation by live structural layers that helped support Cool and Monitor the reactor. Engineers still iwed to remove those layers most of hem Metal grids to reach Iho enormous Deposit Otuel beneath them. Removal of the uppermost layer began in january. As engineers discover More with each passing week about How pervasive Tho evasion of Tho Luel was and How hot it was. They Lind themselves up izod about Why in do not do even More damage breaching the Inal containment. Engineers Eipel to Complete removal of the Luel at the Bottom of inc water tilled Laclar in Aboul six months removing along the Way about 13 tons of Luel within the grids. Alter the fuel at the Bottom is removed about five tons of fuel Wjt be removed from wednesday february 10. 1988 the Ontl spaces King nor said Well Over a year had Boen spent debating How to pen Irmo Iho floor and How to remove Tho Wall Plains held in place by a clod Over bolts a Vai iely of copters chisels air hammers Drill bils plasma arc torches and electric dissolve cars o Metal were tested lot Thoj floor and Walls All Musl to Able to function by Remote con my and under water. For Iho in layer a Drill is now being used hut other tools May be More effective for subsequent layers engineers Hope to scoop out a Sample of the heavy stainless Stool of Ihn containment vessel without piercing in. From the Saniuta they Hope to Loarn Why she vessel did not rup Liiro some Engin Tzeis had expressed Lear that the vessel became Brielle Horn Tho extreme heat and radiation and will Lall Hul such Lears do not seem widespread during the Accident a Liege volume of highly radioactive Cooling Walet into Hie basement of Tho reactor building re including an Aida beneath inc reactor i sell. And much of the Waitr is still Liere it has Mado lha basement Loo hoi Tor human a nary Bobolts on wheels make measurements and Firo Walcer jets at Tow Walls id scrub materials Oft cerium 137, derived irom Alom spelling. Has soaked into lha Walls and resists washing Al templs Aro being made to hit the Concrete Walls so hard with water jews that Cement welding the gravel together is washed out along with most of the 34,000 curies of radioactive material thought Lobo i hero the Cwm on a platform above Tho reactor is otherworldly and tinged Wilh danger. A Day and night workers can be soon moving about it dressed in something like spacesuits. They Are Prole led by the platform Mado of Lead Ana std. Wearing thick protective suits and respirators they use Loofe Wilh 40 look handles to chop pry at and recover Inq fuel. In summer the suits become so not that some cleanup workers put ice in their clothing. Upon retrieving the fuel a wets painstakingly encase in in cant stars still submerged under water and then haul it up Wilh each hour on Tho a Tatlor Iho workers Aro exposed to to highly the radiation they would receive from an a Ray Cost examination this is sometimes exceeded however it fuel is acc ideally brought out of Tho water with no protective Canni Slor around it. To reduce accumulated exposure they Are allowed in work Only one week in six they leave their workplace through on air lock chamber designed to prevent escape of radioactive air. One of the most important finds of the work so tar said Kintner has Boon Tho late of Tho estimated 36 million curios of iodine 131 Hal was in the reactor when ii went out of control a major worry then was that in might to released and concentrate in people s thyroid glands where it can Lead to tutors but unlike Iho 1066 chernobyl disaster in the soviet Union and the 1957 vein Discalo Disi Isaloi m Britain there was no major of radioactive Lodi no 131. Only 14 to 15 cum05 escaped what happened to Hie rest of it Kintner said engineers have in und Thyl it combined chemical with cerium instead of escaping into Iho environment virtually All of the iodine 131 has now decayed away estimates of How much Ihei was to begin with arc based on measurements of Long lived iodine 12&, which is produced at Tho same Lime but m far smaller quantities Tho fact the do 129 a still comte my win cerium implies that the iodine 131 followed Ihus Imo route and then disappeared. As the mixture of once molten uranium Luck. Tis Siori products and structural material is extracted care Musl to taken thai nol enough accumulates to form a critical muss Hal sets Olf an uncontrolled Chain reaction. Depending on the Geom Olry of the accumulation As Little us 150 pounds could become critical thai according to Franklin Al Sto Doder. Director of three mile Island unit z. Is about the Sie of a Man s hat " so the crumbled Luck is placed in Canni stars that Aro submerged in a Pool with enough space Between to insure Hal no combination of them becomes critical ultimately the Canslers Aro hauled by rail to the Idaho National engineering Laboratory in an isolated area. The Laboratory simulates reactor accidents and has extensive storage facilities. The stabs and stripes Page 13
