August 6, 2013

Aug 6, 2013 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • The level of groundwater at Fukushima Daiichi is rising toward the surface. Tokyo Electric Co. staff at the nuke station say the level of water measured in one of the observation wells has increase more than two feet in the past 20 days. The company speculates it could be because they have solidified the ground along the shoreline between the unit #1 and #2 seawater intakes. Spokesman Noriyuki Imaizuma said, “The contaminated water that had already leaked into soil has spread gradually. If the water level continues to rise, it could reach the ground surface.We’ll consider taking steps to drain the groundwater and other measures.” It seems the sub-surface flow of groundwater has been stopped by the solid earth and is slowly building upwards. The Nuclear Regulatory Authority’s head of the Fukushima Task Force, Shinji Kinjo, says there is a “rather high possibility” that contaminated ground water has risen above the solidified ground and is leaching into the station’s barricaded inner quay. He added that he believes the situation to be a “state of emergency”.He feels Tepco’s “sense of crisis is weak. This is why you can’t just leave it up to TEPCO alone.” http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0000420364 — http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/05/japan-fukushima-panel-idUST9N0FT06A20130805?feedType=RSS&feedName=governmentFilingsNews&rpc=43
  • The “emergency” statement by the NRA’s Shinji Kinjo has been trumpeted by most Japanese Press. Each news source has its “spin” on it. In fact Japan Daily Press headlined “TEPCO admits ‘state of emergency…’”, which is entirely fallacious. The quote comes from an NRA investigator at F. Daiichi. There is no record of Tepco either agreeing or disagreeing with him. Regardless, the main body of the Press coverage makes it seem that the NRA has declared a new state of emergency at F. Daiichi, which has not been the case at all…at least not at this point. There has been no response from NRA headquarters in Tokyo or any of the five commissioners. In fact, Kinjo admitted his estimate of the groundwater rising to the surface and pouring into the sea was not based on NRA calculations. Regardless, some nuclear critics are supporting Kinjo’s claim. Retired Toshiba Corp engineer Masashi Goto said, “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. So now, the question is how long do we have?” On the other hand, some rational expert voices have been heard. Mitsuo Uematsu of a Tokyo University’s research institute said, “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. 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.”  http://japandailypress.com/tepco-admits-state-of-emergency-over-radioactive-water-leak-into-pacific-ocean-0633368/ — http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/nuclear-watchdog-says-radioactive-water-at-fukushima-an-emergency?utm_campaign=jt_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=jt_newsletter_2013-08-06_PM
  • Fukushima Prefecture has appealed to Tokyo to stop the hypothetical leak to the sea. Vice Governor Masao Uchibori submitted a written request to the NRA to do whatever is needed to stop the alleged leak. The document also asks Tokyo to take over the decommissioning of F. Daiichi because Tepco has not shown they are doing a competent job.  Uchibori said the Prefecture wants the government to handle the groundwater contamination matter in a way that will quickly produce results. He added that Tepco is merely taking makeshift measures to contain the radioactive material, and that it is not good enough. Meanwhile, the Prefecture was visually inspected the area alongside the station’s quay where the current leakage is supposedly occurring. They also looked in the cabling and piping tunnels running from the turbine buildings for units #2 & #3, which are filled with highly contaminated water that might be seeping into the groundwater.  Embankment reinforcement (soil solidification) was checked because it is believed to be the reason for water level increasing inside the nearest observation well. The team also looked at the steel-and-concrete wall being built the full length of the quay’s shoreline. After the inspection, many local officials said they were frustrated with Tepco and the effort to contain radiation and not taking preventative measures before a problem was discovered. Tepco spokesman Yoshikazu Nagai said measures to contain contaminated underground water leaks were delayed because “we devoted ourselves to cool the reactors,” which was the foremost task. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20130806_37.html — http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20130806_40.html — http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/08/06/national/tokyo-electric-cant-stop-radioactive-flow-at-fukushima-plant/#.UgD8f-vD8dU
  • While all this was going on, Tepco found that yet another groundwater observation well has increasing radioactive content. This well (no. 1-5) is 100 meters from the turbine building suspected to be leaking (unit #2) and 55 meters from the quay. Between July 31 and August 5, total Cesium in the well’s water rose from 65 Becquerels to 960 Bq/liter. Total Beta-emitter activity also rose from 47,000 Bq/liter to 56,000 Bq/liter. Antimony-125 (Sb-125) remained constant at 125 Bq/liter, however. http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/2013/1229533_5130.html — http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2013080600086
  • Tepco has estimated the total volume of Tritium released from F. Daiichi since May 2011. The company says somewhere between 20 and 40 trillion Becquerels have escaped from the four damaged nuclear units and entered the port’s inner quay. Tepco added that the annual limit for the release of Tritium is 22 trillion Becquerels, thus the estimate covering the last 27 months is actually less than the allowed maximum. The information was shared with the Nuclear Regulatory Authority last Friday. The NRA responded by telling Tepco to speed up their efforts to stop further Tritium losses and stanch the natural flow of groundwater under the nuclear station. The NRA added they will create yet another study group to assess the possible impact the releases may have had on the sea. During the Friday meeting, Tepco outlined the measures they have already taken, such as ground solidification, and explained their construction of a new facility to remove groundwater from the earth and collect it. The new facility is scheduled for completion by the end of May. Most news media in Japan are treating Tepco’s total Tritium announcement as admitting to a “huge” release to the sea. One thing is for sure… such journalistic misinformation is un-necessarily harming the effort to revitalize the region’s seafood industry, further damaging its already-depressed economy.  http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20130803_13.html — http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130803p2g00m0dm002000c.html — http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/08/03/national/huge-leak-of-tritium-feared-in-fukushima/#.Ufzsg-vD8dU
  • Tepco says they plan to use pumps to move water away from the rising groundwater slowly climbing the underground soil-solidified barrier. On August 2nd the NRA ordered the pumping operation saying TEPCO “should know that the measures now underway will not stop the leakage.” F. Daiichi staff will drill a new well on the inland side of the solidified-soil wall and install a pump that will remove 100 tons (25,000 gallons) of mildly-contaminated groundwater per day. The company is considering sending the waters into the flooded unit #2 basement. http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130806p2a00m0na022000c.html
  • The “long stay” program has started for Tamura City, inside the former no-go zone. The Miyakoji district has been decontaminated to below national standards and is open for residents to return home in unrestricted fashion for three months. The district is largely rural, containing 119 households which were evacuated. Twenty-eight households totaling 112 individuals began their “long stay” last Thursday. They have been cleaning their homes and tending to crops since April under the previous “short-term” restriction which did not allow them to stay overnight. The Tsuboi family has been living in a temporary housing unit some 40 minutes from their farm and making the trek daily to plant crops, which are doing quite well. They are looking forward to selling their produce when it matures as many of their former clients seem eager to buy what they have. One problem is wild boars. The animals “think they have the run of the place now,” said Hisao Tsuboi. The beasts began free roam of the area as soon as residents were ordered to leave in 2011. Most of those who did not take advantage of the opportunity say they are satisfied with their new communities. Hisao explained, “The people who really wanted to come back had begun making preparations since around last April. I doubt that many people will end up returning.”  http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2013080100849 — http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130801p2a00m0na013000c.html
  • The full reclassification of the evacuation zones around F. Daiichi will end August 10. The final district to be reclassified will be Yamakiya in Kawamata town. The town is outside the old 20km no-go zone and located in the northwest evacuation corridor extending to 40km. 10 of the 11 administrative regions in Yamakiya have radiation exposures less than the 20 millisievert per year national standard for repopulation, and will be re-defined as ready for lifting of evacuation orders. The other region has estimated dose in excess of 20 mSv/yr and will have daytime-visitation-only status. Of the 1,246 people evacuated from Yamakiya district, more than 1,100 will be allowed to repopulate without restriction. The town government has been negotiating re-zoning for a long time and has agreed to reclassification only after payment of damages was settled. http://www.fukushimaminponews.com/news.html?id=221
  • Some towns inside the no-go zone say they are unhappy with national standards set for repopulation. Mayors and other officials from eight of the eleven affected municipalities want decontamination to result in no more than 1 millisievert per year exposure to returning residents. The national standard is 20 mSv/yr. The dissenting towns include Hirono, Tomioka, Futaba and Namie. Decontamination efforts to meet the current national standard in Hirono are almost complete, but the town officials say it isn’t good enough. Environment Minister Nobuteru Ishihara met with the municipal leaders last Friday and promised to study their demands and deal with the matter appropriately. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20130802_32.html
  • Tokyo’s investigation into the appropriateness of Japan’s new radiation standards continues. The debate was suspended for three weeks during the recent campaign period for the Upper house election. Some Press called this a “secret agreement” intended to delay further assistance to Fukushima refugees. Now that the election’s over, the debate can resume. Topics being discussed are radiation dose criteria and what might be done to alleviate resident’s radiation fears which keep them from returning home. Suspending the discussion for the election was intended to avoid cross-party criticisms of any possible decision that might have been made, which would have added complication to an already intricate campaign contest. On March 8, one Reconstruction Agency official said, “One of the pending issues was resolved today. To be precise, the concerned parties agreed to leave the matter ambiguous, without determining black or white.” There has been nothing to report since then. http://japandailypress.com/reconstruction-agency-agreed-to-put-off-disaster-relief-until-after-upper-house-elections-0133215/