I’m sure all daily readers of these updates have noticed that there’s been little, if any references to American news media reports for a number of days, and an almost exclusive use of Japanese Press and other reputable international information sources. Here’s why. The cold, hard facts in both East and West news stories are the same, but the Japanese Press refrains from the “bend, fold, spindle, and mutilate” rhetoric endemic with American news reporting. After reading responsible reporting for more than a week, I’ve been weaned from the western news media…except for Reuters. They seem satisfied to minimize the spin.
Now for the radiological news…
- Yesterday, TEPCO assured everyone that the highly contaminated waters in the turbine building basements was not the source of the increased radiological condition of the nearby ocean. This web page reported the turbine basement waters had to be the source. (Occam’s razor, if you will) Today, it seems even more-so that this web page was right. (I’m not really proud of this) Waters in underground trenches/tunnels external to Units 1 and 2 have been discovered to be contaminated to the same levels as the turbine basement waters. While Japanese officials maintain the trench water is not the source of the contamination in the nearby seawater, the isotopic similarities between the two is alarmingly similar. Besides, if the sea contamination isn’t from the trench/turbine basement waters, where is it coming from? A lot of it certainly came from the air early-on due to the winds blowing out to sea for much of the initial number of days of the Fukushima emergency, but the winds have since shifted. And, a few of the isotopes found in the seawater are not capable of airborne transport. TEPCO’s credibility continues to diminish.
- Water contamination level in the Unit #3 trench could not be measured because the access hole to the trench/tunnel is filled with rubble from the explosion at Unit 3.
- TEPCO reports the three workers who received over-exposure (two also contaminated) three days ago are now under observation at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences in the Chiba Prefecture, which is located outside the 30 km “evacuation” radius around the Fukushima Daiichi power complex. They were transferred there late yesterday (early today, here) from the Fukushima Medical University Hospital. All three continue to be in good condition. IAEA reports, that none of the three ought to require medical treatments, but the Institute’s staff will want to monitor them for several days, regardless. However…
- As of 4 pm today (Japan time), TEPCO reported that all three workers have been released from National Institute of Radiological Sciences. However, TEPCO has added further fuel to their bonfire of informational incompetency. The initial over-exposure/contamination report was on March 24, and the hospital transfer report was just today. Yet, the TEPCO news release now says they were released from the National Institute of Radiological Sciences on March 23! What??? I had to look at that one several times, hoping my slight near-sightedness and dyslexia were causing me to “see” 23 when it was actually a 28. Nope…it’s a 23! <groan>
- Asahi Shimbun quotes Cabinet Chief Secretary, Yukio Edano, who cautions anyone wishing to return to their homes inside the 20 km evacuation zone, “It is very likely that anywhere within 20 km of the plant is contaminated and there is a big risk (to human health) at the moment.” Once again we have a government warning based on the fictional no-safe-level myth of radiation and contamination exposure. He’s needlessly frightening the public, and not allowing citizens to return to their homes in Fukushima Prefecture based on a theory which has no actual support in human-based evidence. The Hiroshima Syndrome continues to be demonstrated, and exacerbated, at all levels.
For a technical update…
TEPCO reports…
- The freshwater being used to cool and replenish Unit #2’s spent fuel pool has been coming from a firetruck’s pump. Early in the day March 27, the freshwater supply was shifted to a motor-driven pump. Is the source of the freshwater coming from the firetrucks?
IAEA reports…
- Workers have begun moving contaminated water from the turbine basement of Unit #1. The water is being moved to inside the Unit #1 condenser, which they describe as, “A main condenser’s function in a nuclear power plant is to condense and recover steam that passes through the turbine.” They also report that work is currently under way to move Unit #2’s basement water to it’s condenser. The same process is “under consideration” for Unit’s 3 & 4.
- Fresh water continues to be injected into the reactor vessels for Units 1, 2 & 3. Asahi Shimbun reports that Japanese officials deduce there must be leakage from the reactor pressure vessels because water levels are not rising as fast as they might expect when freshwater is being injected. Allegedly, this report came from interviews with TEPCO officials. However as IAEA points out, if there were leaks, the pressures inside the reactor vessels would slowly drop between freshwater injections, and this has not been happening. Is TEPCO shooting themselves in the foot yet again?
- White “smoke” continues to emanate from reactor buildings 1, 2, 3 & 4. The word “smoke” is in quotations in the IAEA updates, and it seems for good reason. TEPCO calls it “smoke”, but logically it’s probably steam. Lots of hot water surely remains in all four secondary containment areas.
- Unit #3 reactor temperature readings are now available, and it was at 100 degrees C on March 26. IAEA data is routinely delayed a day or two because it seems to take them that long to get it from TEPCO. (Hey, let’s shoot the other foot again?)
- IAEA also reports that seawater continues to be injected to the Unit #3 spent fuel pool, in contradiction to TEPCO’s report several days ago that they are injecting freshwater. This discrepancy needs to be resolved.
- “From March 22 to March 25, 130 to 150 tonnes of seawater was poured into the spent fuel pool each day using a concrete pump.”, reports the IAEA. Which provides a convenient segue to the following…
Please recall the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chairman’s report more than ten days ago, that at least one spent fuel pool was dry and at least one other had fuel cells sticking out of the water. We can now look at this writer’s position that the NRC Chairman’s words were merely unfounded speculation, with even more supportive evidence. The World Nuclear Association (WNA) has released a March 25 update on Fukushima status. One item covered in the report is the spent fuel pools, and their dimensions are given. I could not find their dimensions previously. Units 1 & 2 pools have surface dimensions of 12 meters by 7 meters. Units 3 & 4 have surface dimensions of 12 meters by 10 meters. All four pools routinely have 7 meters of water level above the tops of the stored fuel cells. A cubic meter of freshwater weighs one metric ton (tonne), or roughly 2,200 American pounds. We can easily calculate, in order to have spent fuel sticking out of the water at Unit 1 or 2, each pool would have had to lose ~ 590 tonnes of its water. For the fuel cells to be totally uncovered in either pool, ~800 tonnes of water would have to have been lost. For Unit 3 & 4 pools, it would be a loss of ~840 tonnes of water to reach the tops of the stored fuel cells, and ~1440 tonnes lost to completely uncover the stored fuel. No matter which pool we might look at, none have been reported to have had any of the above levels of tonnage injected, poured in, or otherwise sprayed at any single replenishment operation. It’s safe to say the daily injections of 130 to 150 tonnes reported by IAEA might well be for level recovery due to decay-heat-accelerated evaporation. Hey, we’re still looking at more than a thermal megawatt of decay heat generation in the pools (and several megawatts for Unit #4’s pool), so the IAEA numbers seem reasonable. Regardless, the above dimensional and volumetric understanding further supports this writer’s position that the spent fuel pools were never dry and none of them have ever had fuel cells sticking out of the water.
