Interesting info re:#2 temp rise

Is it unrealistic that the thermometer is near where the fuel went ex vessel and near where the hole in inner pressure vessel is ?

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20120216_31.html

TEPCO reports reactor thermometer problem to govt

The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has attributed abnormally high temperature readings at one of the facility's reactors to a malfunctioning thermometer.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, reported the analysis of the problem at the Number 2 reactor to the government's nuclear safety agency on Thursday.

The thermometer at the reactor has been showing much higher readings than 2 others.

The utility said it's highly unlikely that temperatures could rise so high unless at least 60 percent of the melted nuclear fuel in the reactor were concentrated near the thermometer.

TEPCO confirmed signs of rising temperatures in experiments it conducted under unusually large electric resistance, as was found in the thermometer.

The thermometer serves as an indicator to assess whether the reactor can stay in a state of cold shutdown.

TEPCO says the thermometer will no longer be monitored. The firm says it will comprehensively examine data, including other thermometer readings and radiation levels in the reactor's containment vessel, to determine whether a state of cold shutdown is achieved.

The utility plans to reduce water injections into the reactor to a level at which such injections were done before the thermometer readings began rising, if the nuclear safety agency says that doing so is reasonable.
Thursday, February 16, 2012 17:28 +0900 (JST)