NHK: Officials admit it may be impossible to stop leaking at Fukushima reactors – Will be investigating ‘bottom of containment vessels’ for holes – Gov’t asking engineers from outside Japan for help with melted fuel

– NHK: Officials admit it may be impossible to stop leaking at Fukushima reactors — Will be investigating ‘bottom of containment vessels’ for holes — Gov’t asking engineers from outside Japan for help with melted fuel (VIDEOS) (ENENews, April 30, 2014):

NHK WORLD, Apr. 26, 2014: Detailed containment vessel probe to begin soon […] to learn more details to assist with the retrieval of melted fuel. The operator plans to fill the containment vessels of reactors 1, 2 and 3 with water. […] Earlier in April at the No. 3 reactor, remote-controlled cameras detected water pooled below a metal scaffold inside an adjoining room. […] One area of interest is the section that connects the adjoining room with the containment vessel. The operator believes contaminated water came into the room through this connection. […] The probe into reactor 1 will focus on checking the bottom of the containment vessel. The reactor 2 probe will center on the donut-shaped suppression chamber at the bottom of the containment vessel. >> Watch the broadcast here

NHK WORLD, Apr. 25, 2014 (h/t MissingSky101, MsMilkytheClown1): A Japanese government institute is asking engineers from Japan and abroad for their input on removing melted fuel from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The current plan is to fill the reactor containment vessels with water […] During a seminar in Tokyo on Friday, officials from the International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning, or IRID, told engineers that this method may not be feasible [emphasis added]. They said surveys of the containment vessels found that it may be difficult to locate and plug leaks. […]

NHK Transcript, Apr. 25, 2014: The removal of the fuel is the biggest challenge […] They’re calling on the engineers to study ways to block radiation without using water.

See also: Japan Nuclear Experts: Footage shows ‘major problem’ at Fukushima Unit 1; Cesium release to continue for next 5 decades — Tepco: Even if we knew where it’s broken, how can we stop it? — “Still in the dark” about other 2 units (VIDEO)

And: UC Berkeley Nuclear Professor: May be impossible to get Fukushima melted fuel — Work at site to go on for ‘thousands of years’ if not removed (AUDIO)

Watch the NHK broadcast here