July 24, 2014

Jul 24, 2014 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • Tepco is exploring new methods of removing contaminated trench water. The company outlined their plans for the Nuclear Regulation Authority on Wednesday. The goal is to stop possible inflows from the turbine building basements of units #2 & #3, then remove the water currently inside the trenches. The April attempt to freeze the contained water in the unit #2 trench was unsuccessful because inflow and outflow was too great to allow the installed refrigeration system to freeze it. Tepco says they have two possibilities for problem resolution. Upgrade the refrigeration system at the basement walls to effect an ice block, including “other methods” such as adding dry ice to promote the freezing. If the “ice block” works, the contained water can be immediately pumped into storage tanks. If not, Tepco is considering use of a grout to plug the inflow-locations on the basement walls. The Tepco Press handout also explains that this is not the so-called ice-wall broadcasted by the popular Press. In fact, the “ice wall” doesn’t involve ice at all. The soils above the bedrock below the plant will be frozen, not the water, per se. http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/2014/1239539_5892.html  Tepco has also posted a Press handout for the progress with blocking contaminated trenches. The layout of the trenches, modified approaches to the elimination of trench waters, and contamination levels in Becquerels per milliliter are provided. http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2014/images/handouts_140723_03-e.pdf

  • A group of Iitate residents plan to file for uniform damages payments to all residents. Currently, Iitate compensation is disbursed according to three different zones determined by radiation levels. The two zones with lower radiation levels receive less money per month than the higher exposure zone, and the residents’ group says this is dividing the populace. They want the Center for Settlement of Fukushima Nuclear Damage Claims to make Tepco pay the higher damages to all Iitate residents. The group also wants a lump-sum “consolation” payment of $30,000 per person because evacuation orders were not issued until a month after the nuke accident began. Iitate approximately 40 kilometers northwest of F. Daiichi with a pre-accident population of about 6,800. 6,000 were forced to evacuate by government mandate. Of those, it is expected that 2,500 will partake in the filing for more money. Group leader, Kenichi Hasegawa, says he hopes the residents will unite to let Tepco know how angry they are. NHK World; Iitate residents to file for arbitration; 7/23/2014  

  • Tepco has estimated the radiological release caused by F. Daiichi debris removal from unit #3. There are concerns that rice paddy contamination in Minamisoma came from the dust stirred up by unit 3 rubble removal last August. Tepco has told the NRA they estimate that 1.1 trillion Becquerels of radioactive material were expunged to the atmosphere, in total. Tepco estimates that 10 million Bq/hr are being discharged currently. Concerns are now heightened over the future removal of the temporary unit #1 enclosure to effect rubble removal. NHK World; One trillion Bq released by nuclear debris removal; 7/23/2014  [Comment – For perspective, one square foot of typical soils in America release about 4.8 Becquerels of radioactive Radon gas per hour, or roughly 120 Bq/day. Thus a neighborhood park, 300 feet long by 300 ft. wide, emits 10 million or more Becquerels every day. A land area the size of Manhattan Island (~641 million ft2) emits about 3 trillion Becquerels of radioactive Radon every day, or nearly three times the total estimated by Tepco for F. Daiichi #3 rubble removal.]