Thousands evacuate as Fukishima nuclear emergency is declared

[Peter Lemkin]

07.18.13 - 11:31 AM

Fruits of Fukushima

by Abby Zimet



A "steam-like gas" has been seen rising from the No. 3 reactor building at Japan's devastated Fukushima nuclear plant, where contaminated waste water remains. Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) says there is as yet no "emergency situation" and they will "continue to monitor the status closely." This is the latest in a string of problems including water leaks, power failures and last week's report of a sharp increase in radioactive cesium in groundwater. Now pictures have surfaced of grotesquely deformed fruits, vegetables and flowers near the plant. Some argue there's no definitive proof they're the result of radioactive contamination because haven't you ever heard of coincidence? We report, you decide.



http://www.commondreams.org/further/2013/07/18

Hey!, that 'tomato'[?] on the left looks so delicious and nutritious! Fukashima is a total disaster that can not be remedied.....it will degrade rapidly - more rapidly than they are able to encase it [projected in 30+ years!]...and the radioactive leakage has already been many times Chernobyl and continues into the air, soil and water - groundwater, but mainly sea water.....its a big Ocean, but the local and near-local effects will be catastrophic! Madness... Thank you, General Electric!

Today, I heard there were new emissions of steam...highly RADIOACTIVE steam. They do NOT have the reactors under control....they can't even monitor them well. Expect many very ugly scenarios in the near future at the plant and the surrounding area. It could even, theoretically, make all of Japan uninhabitable, under the worst-case scenarios.....as it is now, the entire area within about 50-100Km of the plant will be 'dead zones' for the rest of human history....and growing.

[Peter Lemkin]

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[TD="width: 84%"]Fukushima radiation levels as high as 2011

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7/29/13


Source: RT


AFP Photo/Pool/Toshifumi Kitamura
Water samples taken at an underground passage below the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant contain alarming levels of radiation which are comparable to those taken immediately after the catastrophe.
According to a Saturday statement by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the tested water contains 2.35 billion becquerels of cesium per liter, and the radioactive water is now seeping into the sea. The findings were also evident from samples taken within a 50-meter radius around the plant.

TEPCO's specialists have hit a wall trying to solve the problem of the leaking groundwater, which has persisted since 2011. However, unlike then, they cannot tell what the source of the newfound radioactivity is. The current explanation is that the radioactive water that had been left in the underground trench some two years ago is now mixing with the groundwater, which is in turn contaminating the sea.

The current investigation started back in May, when specialists registered a 17-fold hike in radiation levels compared to December 2012. More tests immediately followed.

In July, scientists found high tritium levels -- 20 percent higher than just two months before. At the beginning of the month, cesium levels also went up by an astonishing 22 percent from the previous day. The legal limit of 90 becquerels per liter was exceeded by around 22,000 becquerels.

On July 10, scientists warned about possible sea contamination, although they had no evidence at the time.

On Monday, however, TEPCO discovered that radiation levels were rising and falling together with the tide. This has led them to their latest theory -- that the leftover trench water from 2011 is indeed mixing with the underground water that flows straight into the Pacific.

The only theoretical solution at this point is to build a wall of liquid glass between the nuclear reactors and the sea, siphoning off contaminated water from the underground trench.

Steam has also been seen emerging from one of the damaged reactors on three occasions, sparking further fears about the state of the wrecked plant.

Meanwhile, TEPCO has had to sustain bad publicity after it was revealed that it delayed publishing the summer study which sparked these newfound fears -- which were realized just days after TEPCO reassured the public that the water was safely enclosed. The government has labeled the company's behavior as "deplorable."

[Magda Hassan]

Oh, just great. Now what?

Radioactive groundwater at the Japanese crippled nuclear plant has risen to levels above a barrier built to try and contain it with risks of spilling over and reaching the ocean, Japanese media report.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), which is responsible for decommissioning the wrecked plant, estimated that contaminated groundwater could reach the surface within three weeks, the Asahi newspaper said.

One of the biggest challenges facing Tepco is to try and contain the radioactive water that cools the destroyed reactors as it mixes with 400 tonnes of fresh groundwater pouring into the plant every day.

The company has been attempting to inject a chemical into the ground to create a barrier to physically contain the groundwater, but the method is only effective 1.8 meters below the surface, whereas data from test wells shows that contaminated water has already risen to one meter below the surface.

A Tepco official said at the Friday meeting that equipment to pump out the water would only be in place at the end of August. According to local media reports, Tepco would need to pump out 100 tonnes of water daily to prevent leakage into the ocean.

But it is not clear where the contaminated water would be stored as more than 85% of Fukushima's 380,000 tonne storage capacity is already full.

Workers have already built more than 1,000 tanks to store mixed water, which accumulates at the rate of an Olympic sized swimming pool every week.

The tanks were built in a hurry from parts of old containers brought to the site from closed down factories and then reassembled together with new parts and the steel bolts holding the tanks together will corrode in a few years.


Tepco admits it has no idea how long the tanks will hold and estimates it will need to double capacity over the next three years if it is to contain all the water. After that it has no long term plan.

The decommissioning engineers also want to stem the flow of groundwater before it reaches the reactors by channeling it around the plant and into the sea. The plan is to capture the groundwater at the elevated end of the complex and divert it into a system of wells and pipes into the ocean.

Local fishermen are opposed to the idea and have rejected Tepco's claims that radiation levels would be negligible.

Some of Tepco's other efforts to stop radioactive water from leaking into the sea include sinking an 800-meter-long steel barrier along the coastline and even freezing the ground with technology used in subway-tunnel construction.

Experts from across the nuclear industry are not impressed and in January Tepco found fish contaminated with high levels of radiation inside a port at the plant.

As well as the problem of contaminated water Tepco has also not solved why the plant intermittently emits steam, if the repaired cooling system will hold and why groundwater is seeping into the basement.

Tepco admitted on Friday that an estimated 20 to 40 trillion Becquerel's of tritium may have flowed into the Pacific Ocean since May 2011. Tritium has a half-life of twelve years. Tritium is only dangerous when it is inhaled, ingested via food or water or absorbed through the skin.

While in March a rat shorted a temporary switchboard and cut power used to cool spent uranium fuel rods for 29 hours.

Economic with the truth

Industry experts and analysts are concerned at Tepco's inability to get to grips with the problems on the site and whether it can successfully decommission the Fukushima plant.

"They let people know about the good things and hide the bad things. This culture of cover-up hasn't changed since the disaster," Atusushi Kasai, a former researcher at the Japan Atomic Energy Institute, told Japan Today.

Japan's nuclear energy watchdog expressed alarm at Tepco's own admission last month that radioactive water was leaking into the ocean as it was in direct contradiction to what they had previously said.

"They had said it wouldn't reach the ocean, that they didn't have the data to show that it was going into the ocean," said Masashi Goto, a former nuclear engineer who has worked at plants run by Tepco.

Dale Klein who chairs a third-party panel commissioned by Tepco to oversee the reform of its nuclear division believes they are incompetent rather than deliberately withholding information.

"The plant is in a difficult physical configuration. I have some sympathy. It's not the fact that we're having surprises it's the way they are handling them. That's where my frustrations are," he said.

Tepco's handling of the clean-up has further complicated Japan's attempts to restart its 50 nuclear power plants, almost all of which have been idle since the disaster, forcing the country to import expensive fossil fuels for its energy needs.

http://rt.com/news/fukushima-radioactive-clean-up-003/

[Peter Lemkin]

Magda, Others, the report above is true, but misleading on purpose. It states that containment tanks and trenches are full and any more of the continuously leading highly-contaminated water will now drain into the sea. What they aren't saying, and is in a post of mine just above that, is that other contaminated water from cracked containment vessels and perhaps percolation of ground-waters through ground now covered with a layer of HIGHLY contaminated radioactive particles has long [since the earthquake] been following the water-table and rock/soil cracks, and draining into the sea. Measurements of the radioactivity in the sea for many miles around the plant have been dangerously high since the accident, and increasing, not decreasing!

[Peter Lemkin]

Fukushima radioactive groundwater could breach surface, regulator says
* Watchdog panel head says Tepco's 'sense of crisis is weak'
* Official says leaks into ocean exceed legal limits
* Tepco apologises, says taking steps to block further leaks into ocean (Adds comments from outside experts, background)
By Antoni Slodkowski and Mari Saito
TOKYO, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Highly radioactive water seeping into the ocean from Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is creating an "emergency" that the operator is struggling to contain, an official from the country's nuclear watchdog said on Monday.
This contaminated groundwater has breached an underground barrier, is rising toward the surface and is exceeding legal limits of radioactive discharge, Shinji Kinjo, head of a Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) task force, told Reuters.
Countermeasures planned by Tokyo Electric Power Co are only a temporary solution, he said.
Tepco's "sense of crisis is weak," Kinjo said. "This is why you can't just leave it up to Tepco alone" to grapple with the ongoing disaster.
"Right now, we have an emergency," he said.
Tepco has been widely castigated for its failure to prepare for the massive 2011 tsunami and earthquake that devastated its Fukushima plant and lambasted for its inept response to the reactor meltdowns. It has also been accused of covering up shortcomings.
It was not immediately clear how much of a threat the contaminated groundwater could pose. In the early weeks of the disaster, the Japanese government allowed Tepco to dump tens of thousands of tonnes of contaminated water into the Pacific in an emergency move.
The toxic water release was however heavily criticised by neighbouring countries as well as local fishermen and the utility has since promised it would not dump irradiated water without the consent of local townships.
"Until we know the exact density and volume of the water that's flowing out, I honestly can't speculate on the impact on the sea," said Mitsuo Uematsu from the Center for International Collaboration, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute at the University of Tokyo.
"We also should check what the levels are like in the sea water. If it's only inside the port and it's not flowing out into the sea, it may not spread as widely as some fear."
NO OTHER OUTLET FOR WATER
Tepco said it is taking various measures to prevent contaminated water from leaking into the bay near the plant. In an e-mailed statement to Reuters, a company spokesman said Tepco deeply apologised to residents in Fukushima prefecture, the surrounding region and the larger public for causing inconveniences, worries and trouble.
The utility pumps out some 400 tonnes a day of groundwater flowing from the hills above the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant into the basements of the destroyed buildings, which mixes with highly irradiated water that is used to cool the reactors in a stable state below 100 degrees Celsius.
Tepco is trying to prevent groundwater from reaching the plant by building a "bypass" but recent spikes of radioactive elements in sea water has prompted the utility to reverse months of denials and finally admit that tainted water is reaching the sea.
In a bid to prevent more leaks into the bay of the Pacific Ocean, plant workers created the underground barrier by injecting chemicals to harden the ground along the shoreline of the No. 1 reactor building. But that barrier is only effective in solidifying the ground at least 1.8 meters below the surface.
By breaching the barrier, the water can seep through the shallow areas of earth into the nearby sea. More seriously, it is rising toward the surface - a break of which would accelerate the outflow.
"If you build a wall, of course the water is going to accumulate there. And there is no other way for the water to go but up or sideways and eventually lead to the ocean," said Masashi Goto, a retired Toshiba Corp nuclear engineer who worked on several Tepco plants. "So now, the question is how long do we have?"
Contaminated water could rise to the ground's surface within three weeks, the Asahi Shimbun said on Saturday. Kinjo said the three-week timeline was not based on NRA's calculations but acknowledged that if the water reaches the surface, "it would flow extremely fast."
A Tepco official said on Monday the company plans to start pumping out a further 100 tonnes of groundwater a day around the end of the week.
The regulatory task force overseeing accident measures of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear powerstation, which met Friday, "concluded that new measures are needed to stop the water from flowing into the sea that way," Kinjo said.
Tepco said on Friday that a cumulative 20 trillion to 40 trillion becquerels of radioactive tritium had probably leaked into the sea since the disaster. The company said this was within legal limits.
Tritium is far less harmful than cesium and strontium, which have also been released from the plant. Tepco is scheduled to test strontium levels next.
The admission on the long-term tritium leaks, as well as renewed criticism from the regulator, show the precarious state of the $11 billion cleanup and Tepco's challenge to fix a fundamental problem: How to prevent water, tainted with radioactive elements like cesium, from flowing into the ocean. (Additional reporting by Kentaro Hamada; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Raju Gopalakrishnan)


My note: The only thing new here is that it will soon come to pass [in 1-3 weeks, if what they say is correct] that the radioactive water will come to the surface [its been leaking into the sea from underground since the earthquake] and run into the sea over the surface - making the surface around the plant even more of a 'no-go' zone.....sounds great! :kraka: Glad they are making progress I'll bet they'll have this under control in about....hmmm....30 years or so*......no less - and by then ocean level sea rise due to global warming will have put the sarcophagus of the nuclear plant INSIDE the ocean...making the 30 years work for nothing........

*TEPCOs own predicted EARLIEST date of completion of containment!

[Peter Lemkin]

They are admitting to a flow of HIGHLY radioactive water from the plant into the sea [and local groundwater - some also into the air and plants/animals] of a meer 120,000 tons per year. If they admit to that, it is likely higher - either because they are low-balling the numbers; or they just don't know, as they can't see or measure it effectively. As the tanks now holding the most contaminated water are leaking and some about to break and/or overflow; that flow will soon increase greatly, and will include radioactive waters cascading on the surface.....oh, what fun! Hey, if you're unemployed and speak or can fake that you speak Japanese - they are hiring workers now! Good pay.....short life expectancy, though.

[David Guyatt]

I am so heartened by the recent decision of Blighty Plc., to build a new raft of nuclear reactors on and around the UK coastline to provide for our future energy needs (and night time green glowing human flesh festivals).

Fukishima is a long, long way away and what happened there couldn't possibly happen here. Could it. After all we're British.

[Magda Hassan]

I am so heartened by the recent decision of Blighty Plc., to build a new raft of nuclear reactors on and around the UK coastline to provide for our future energy needs (and night time green glowing human flesh festivals).

Fukishima is a long, long way away and what happened there couldn't possibly happen here. Could it. After all we're British.

Sellafield never happened....
People who entertain the option of nuclear power these days should be institutionalized until sane.

Do you know what type of nuclear fuel they would be using?

I heard there is a multi nation scientific experiment in France to make fusion energy. I don't know much about it and was just listening to it on the radio today. Sounds interesting but I want to know more.

[Peter Lemkin]

I am so heartened by the recent decision of Blighty Plc., to build a new raft of nuclear reactors on and around the UK coastline to provide for our future energy needs (and night time green glowing human flesh festivals).

Fukishima is a long, long way away and what happened there couldn't possibly happen here. Could it. After all we're British.

Sellafield never happened....
People who entertain the option of nuclear power these days should be institutionalized until sane.

Do you know what type of nuclear fuel they would be using?

I heard there is a multi nation scientific experiment in France to make fusion energy. I don't know much about it and was just listening to it on the radio today. Sounds interesting but I want to know more.

Every scientific group is FAR, FAR from fusion power plants [even working models in the laboratory]. When they come, they may provide an answer to world energy needs and an end to pollution - BUT, it is thought that they are likely still far into the future and if built only for profit, could 'cut corners' and be dangerous - in different ways than fission plants.....more like like nuclear bombs. However, if built properly and for safety, not just cutting costs....in a few decades they may begin to be a reality...if that is not too late. They will be very expensive to build and to operate. They really fit into a socialized society, not one run by corporate capitalists - who will make much more money on carbon based or fission plants, IMO.

[Magda Hassan]

Fukushima operator pleads for international help as radiation crisis deepens

Published time: August 22, 2013 22:21 Get short URL










TEPCO, operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, admits it needs overseas help to contain the radioactive fallout, after 18 months of trying to control it internally. It comes after the latest leak at the facility was deemed a "serious incident."
"Many other countries outside of Japan have experienced decommissioning reactors, so we hope we can consult them more and utilize their experience," TEPCO's vice president, Zengo Aizawa, said at a news conference on Wednesday night.

"In that sense, we need support, not only from the Japanese government but from the international community to do this job."

The call comes after one of the 1,060 temporary tanks used to store highly contaminated water sprang a leak on Wednesday, discharging as much as 300 tons of radioactive liquid containing large amounts of cesium. Further tests revealed excessive radiation levels elsewhere in the facility.

Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) rated the incident 3 on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, which spans from 1 to 7.

"The current situation is at the point where more surveillance won't be enough to keep the accidents from happening," declared Shunichi Tanaka, chairman of the NRA.

The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said that it is "taking this matter seriously and remains ready to provide assistance on request."

In the past, Japan has been averse to letting foreign entities help with eradicating the nuclear fallout from the Tohoku Disaster of March 2011. The vast majority of clear-up tenders were won by local companies, and outside experts have observed from afar.

The leak is the latest - and most serious - in a string of accidents that have kept the station in the headlines throughout the summer.


TEPCO admitted that groundwater that floods the damaged basements of the destroyed reactors is becoming contaminated and flowing out into the ocean. Three-hundred tons of the radioactive liquid reached the open water each day, even as TEPCO continued to deny the existence of the problem.

The financially-troubled company is attempting to construct a chemical and steel double barrier to stop this outflow, but the obstacle is not impermeable and only covers a limited area - requiring water to be pumped away to stop it from building up and bursting through.

Its tanks, which are used to keep the coolant that prevents the damaged reactors from overheating dangerously, are considered to be unsuitable because they were made for other industrial purposes. They were adapted following the emergency, but they are nearly full. TEPCO estimates that it has already reached 85 percent capacity, although plans to create a more permanent facility have so far not materialized. The latest leak was the fifth time that toxic water escaped from a basin.

TEPCO has been slow in measuring the levels of radioactive elements that have flowed out of the station, as well as publishing its data. The company finally revealed this month that highly unsafe tritium and cesium levels had been detected in the seawater near the plant. A concentration of these elements could damage the marine environment and build up in marine life, possibly endangering humans further up the food chain.

"The contaminated water remains a problem that could lead to a crisis," Aizawa conceded during the press call.

"Unfortunately, TEPCO waited until a severe emergency arose to finally report how bad things really are. Historically, everything TEPCO says always turns out to be much worse than they initially admit," nuclear accident researcher Christina Consolo told RT.

Most experts say that it could take between four decades and a century to eliminate the impact of the Fukushima disaster.
http://rt.com/news/fukushima-internation...-leak-866/