More Radioactive Water Leaks From Japanese Nuclear Plant

[alp227]

Source: NYT

At least 45 tons of highly radioactive water has leaked from a purification facility at the Fukushima Daiichi buclear power stationnt, and some of it may have reached the Pacific Ocean, the plant’s operator said on Sunday.

Nearly nine months after Fukushima Daiichi was ravaged by an earthquake and tsunami, the plant continues to pose a major environmental threat. Before the latest leak, the Fukushima accident had been responsible for the largest single release of radioactivity into the ocean, threatening wildlife and fisheries in the region, experts have said.

The new radioactive water leak called into question the progress that the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, appeared to have made in bringing its reactors under control. The company, known as Tepco, has said that it hopes to bring the plant to a stable state known as a cold shutdown by the end of the year.

The trouble on Sunday came in two stages, a Tepco statement said. In the morning, utility workers found that radioactive water was flooding a catchment next to a purification device; the device was then switched off, and the leak appeared to stop. But the company said it later discovered that leaked water was escaping through a crack in the catchment’s concrete wall and was reaching an external gutter.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/05/world/asia/more-leaks-from-fukushima-daiichi-nuclear-plant.html

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Are we talking about Larry, Moe and Curly Tepco?

[DeSwiss]

2. K&R n/t

[Mnemosyne]

3. K&R

[russspeakeasy]

4. The earth is rotting away, one piece at a time.

[sam11111]

5. "all uranium back in the ground"--anyone agree?

[eggplant]

6. I believe that's exactly where it is headed. n/t

[wordpix]

7. I do

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[kristopher]

9. Tepco Says More Radioactive Water Leaks at Fukushima Plant

Source: Bloomberg

As much as 45,000 liters (11,870 gallons) of highly radioactive water leaked from Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear station at the weekend and some may have reached the sea, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said.

The leakage shows the company known as Tepco is still struggling to control the disaster nine months after an earthquake and tsunami wrecked the plant. The water contained 1.8 millisieverts per hour of gamma radiation and 110 millisieverts of beta radiation, Tepco said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.

“The source of the beta radiation in the water is likely to include strontium 90, which if absorbed in the body through eating tainted seaweed or fish, accumulates in bone and can cause cancer,” said Tetsuo Ito, the head of Kinki University’s Atomic Energy Research Institute.

Since the March 11 disaster, the utility has reported several leaks of radiated water into the sea, though its estimates of their size have been disputed. In October, a French nuclear research institute said the Fukushima plant was responsible for the biggest discharge of radioactive material into the ocean in history.

The water leaked...

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-05/tepco-reports-more-radioactive-water-leaks.html

[pmorlan1]

10. Thanks for posting.

Thank you for posting an update.