Third steel beam found beside the fuel rack. Tepco “Fuel assemblies may be damaged”

Here we go..  My gut says this is worse than they want to admit; so they won't:  Until they must.  Fukushima Diary:

As to the latest accident in reactor3, Fukushima Diary reported Tepco found 2 steel beams in SFP3.


(cf. [Reactor3] Underwater video, “Two steel beams were found in the pool”)

After this article, Tepco found another steel beam in the pool, now they are considering the possibility that the fuel assemblies are damaged.

So far, Tepco finished investigating the 1/8 of the pool and found 3 steel beams in total. One of the 3 steel beams was found beside a rack of fuel assemblies.

Tepco still hasn’t verified the dropped steel beam.

They have been stating there is no change in the radiation level in the pool water and no change of the water level, which suggests the state of the pool and fuel assemblies were sound, but they are starting to suggest the possibility that fuel assemblies were damaged.

With TEPCO, it always starts with a hint, a suggestion..  A Possibility.  Then, and only then, does the Admission come forth.  Take your time, guys, we're only being irradiated, here..

Yet Another Fukushima FUBAR..

25-foot-long metal beam drops into Reactor No. 3 pool at Fukushima — Not clear if any fuel rods have broken — Could further complicate removal efforts.  Just in case you might be thinking TEPCO had this still ongoing, potential nuclear cataclysm under control..  Fuck, man..  Enenews:

From EXSKF:

TEPCO announced on September 22 that a steel frame weighing about 470 kilograms dropped into the Spent Fuel Pool of Reactor 3 during the debris removal operation of the Reactor 3 building [...] So far, there is no major increase in radiation levels nearby, TEPCO says.
According to TEPCO, the accident happened at 11:05AM on September 22 when [EXSKF: the crane operator] tried to grab a piece of debris, an H steel lying next to the Spent Fuel Pool on the 5th floor of Reactor 3 building and failed. The H steel slid into the Spent Fuel Pool.

From Russia Today News Line:

A huge metal beam was dropped into a spent fuel pond at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Workers were trying to extract cement wreckage [...] The crane boom accidentally pushed a metal beam into the pool from its casing, reports ITAR-TASS news agency. [Tepco] says the metal construction, 7.3 meters [~25 feet] in length and weighing 470kg, did not cause any breach in the cooling system, but could complicate further retrieve of spent nuclear rods.

From The Voice of Russia: 

Reports say it was accidentally dislodged from its place by a crane.

Fortunately, no one was hurt in the incident. It is not yet clear whether any of the spent rods has been broken.

Barring any significant damage other than a massive explosion or an event they can't hide, TEPCO won't tell us for at least another six months.  That seems to be Standard Operating Procedure for these knuckleheads, even before the earthquake..