TEPCO is desperately trying to keep Fukushima’s scalding fuel rods from overheating. So they need water. Swimming pools of it. Pumping that much water isn’t easy – but this massive rig 2700 litres per minute with an astounding 70m boom.
The $US2 million Putzmeister 70Z (aka THE JUGGERNAUT) is the big brother of another Putzmeister model currently deployed at Fukushima. But this is the alpha and the omega of spraying shit with incredible force. It’s 86,000kg, packs 10 axels, and can be controlled via remote to keep repair workers even further from radioactive leakage. And should the plant need to be sealed up with concrete, Juggernaut’s got it covered – squirting 160 cubic metres of the stuff per hour.
The only problem? Getting it to Japan. The Putzmeister is currently in the US, where it’s not street legal. Very few planes are big enough to make the $US1.3 million flight. And a boat trip is slow. Very slow. And TEPCO doesn’t have time to lollygag. [The Atlantic]