uel in the bottom of those spen

radiation would be so intense that a worker at the pool's edge "would receive a lethal dose in something like 16 seconds."

The spent-fuel problem is a new wild card in the potentially catastrophic failure of the Fukushima power plant. Since last Friday's 9.0 earthquake, the plant has been wracked by repeated explosions in three different reactors.

Some experts are now concerned that spent fuel rods may overheat in two other reactors, even though they were not in service at the time of the earthquake. Those two units, Nos. 5 and 6, have not yet reported problems.

"There are accounts that they're having difficulties cooling those three spent fuel pools, and they need to regain control of that," says Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer by training. "Or as a minimum, need to be able to replace the water that may be evaporating or boiling away to prevent the water from dropping below the level of irradiated fuel in the bottom of those spent fuel pools to prevent their damage from overheating as well."

Concerns Of Radiation From Spent Fuel Rods
Fort Lauderdale CPA
stun guns