Aibanhamano

About 300m3 of contaminated water leakage, Tepco published the Cs-134/137 concentration data of the tank on 8/26/2013.

From their report, 44,000,000 Bq/m3 of Cs-134 and 92,000,000 Bq/m3 of Cs-137 were measured from the water stocked in the leaking tank.

However, 46,000,000 Bq/m3 of Cs-134 and 100,000,000 Bq/m3 of Cs-137 were measured from the leaked water on 8/19/2013.

The water leaked from the tank, but Cs-134/137 density is lower in the tank than the leaked water.

Tepco doesn’t make any explanation about this.

 

http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/f1/smp/2013/images/south_discharge_130826-1j.pdf

http://www.tepco.co.jp/cc/press/2013/1229852_5117.html

 

 

Iori Mochizuki

You can ignore the truth but the truth won’t ignore you.

_____

Français :

[Mystère] La concentration en césium 134/137 est plus forte dans l’eau de la fuite que dans la citerne

 

Tepco a publié le 26 août 2013 des données sur la concentration en césium 134/137 de la citerne qui fuit.

Leur rapport dit qu’ils ont relevé 44 000 000 Bq/m³ (44 millions) de Cs 134 et 92 000 000 Bq/m³ (92 millions) de Cs 137 dans les eaux de la citerne.
Or, le 19 août 2013 ils avaient relevé 46 000 000 Bq/m³ (46 millions) de Cs 134 et 100 000 000 Bq/m³ (100 millions) de Cs 137 dans les eaux de la fuite.
L’eau a fuit de la citerne mais la concentration du Cs-134/137 est plus faible dans la citerne que dans l’eau de la fuite.
Tepco n’en donne aucune explication.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/f1/smp/2013/images/south_discharge_130826-1j.pdf
http://www.tepco.co.jp/cc/press/2013/1229852_5117.html

Vous pouvez ignorer la vérité mais la vérité ne vous ignorera pas.

Following up this article..Tepco “30,000,000,000,000 Bq of Cs-137 and Sr-90 leaked to the Pacific” / 30,000,000,000 Bq still leaking per day [URL]

 

Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry reported the activity ratio of Strontium-90 / Cesium-137 is approx. 1 outside of Fukushima nuclear plant port.

Tepco referred to the estimate in their report about the total Sr-90 amount in the sea.

 

 

http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2013/images/handouts_130821_10-j.pdf

 

 

Iori Mochizuki

You can ignore the truth but the truth won’t ignore you.

_____

Français :

L’institut de la recherche scientifique de l’énergie électrique : “La proportion d’activité strontium 90/ césium 137 est de 1 en dehors du port de Fukushima”

 

Article lié : Tepco : “30 Tera Bq de Cs 137 et Sr 90 ont fuit dans le Pacifique” / on en a toujours 30 milliards Bq/jour

L’institut central de la recherche scientifique de l’énergie électrique rapporte que la proportion d’activité strontium 90 / césium- 37 est environ de 1 en dehors du port de Fukushima.
Tepco a fait référence à cette estimation dans leur rapport sur la quantité totale de strontium 90 dans la mer.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2013/images/handouts_130821_10-j.pdf

Vous pouvez ignorer la vérité mais la vérité ne vous ignorera pas.

Following up this article..[300m3 leakage] Fukushima nuclear plant has 350 more tanks of the same type / Rubber sealing instead of welding [URL]

 

In the press conference of 8/21/2013, Tepco’s vice president Aizawa commented there is a possibility that a part of the 300m3 of the leaked contaminated water flowed to the near drain and travelled to the sea.

The leaked water has β nuclides unfiltered. It contains 80,000,000,000 Bq/m3 of all β.

The tank is located at 500m from the sea. Contaminated water flowed to the drain, which is originally designed to discharge rainwater to the sea.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/tepconews/library/movie-01j.html

 

 

Iori Mochizuki You can ignore the truth but the truth won’t ignore you.

 

Unfortunately, I am the only one who has been warning about the contaminated water of Fukushima plant in English.

 

The first time I featured the problem on column was last November.

[Column] X-day – when Fukushima plant discharges millions of tones of the contaminated water to Pacific ocean [URL 1]

I remember I was writing this in my head in the freezing cold shower of Sofia -Bulgaria.

At that time, there were not much people to take it seriously.

but I continued.

 

On the second 311, I wrote this as I was concerned about Fukushima being forgotten by the world.

27% of the highly contaminated water tanks will need repairs in 2016, “1,000 tones for each” [URL 2]

 

The situation is going as exactly anticipated. (slightly worse)

 

Nuclear Regulation Authority classified the 300m3 leakage as “INES Level.3″.

International media, even BBC, are coming back to cover it.

 

For me, it’s not they covered it, it’s they have been ignoring all the other problems.

 

They still look like they are downplaying.

but they actually know it’s worse than how it looks so they are covering it.

 

This 300m3 of leakage is just the beginning.

As a proof, Tepco found 2 more leakages after a couple of days after the 300m3 leakage.

 

These are all same type of the tanks called flange type.

They are not welded but sealed by rubber, which is vulnerable.

They are supposed to last 5 years but they are used in the highly radioactive place quite near the sea.

It’s already starting to fall down.

Tepco states they needed to build tanks very urgently, didn’t have time to weld them. They still keep making this flange type tanks.

 

Each one has 1,000 tones of water.

and there are 300~350 of the flange type tanks in Fukushima nuclear plant. (and it’s increasing day by day)

The potentially leaked water doesn’t have β nuclides (Strontium-90 etc) filtered, and Cesium-134/137 levels are still high.

 

This time, Tepco couldn’t even survey the surface dose of the leaked water because it is “too hot”.

If we are not unlucky, the too hot water won’t leak from 300~350 of 1,000 tones tanks in the plant area.

 

Tepco took 1 month to announce the 300m3 leakage.

Nobody knows how many other leakages are hidden at this very moment.

 

Nothing has even started yet.

 

 

Iori Mochizuki

You can ignore the truth but the truth won’t ignore you.

_____

Français :

[Édito] Rien n’a été fait : 350 citernes de 1 000 tonnes sont sur le point de fuir au niveau des collerettes

 

Je suis malheureusement le seul a avoir prévenu en anglais du danger des eaux extrêmement radioactives.

La première fois que j’ai mis ce problème en avant, c’était en novembre dernier :
[Edito] X-day – Quand la centrale de Fukushima balance des millions de tonnes d’eau contaminée dans l’océan Pacifique

Je me souviens de l’avoir écrit dans ma tête pendant une douche glacée à Sofia en Bulgarie.
Il n’y a pas eu beaucoup de monde à ce moment là pour vraiment le prendre au sérieux.
mais j’ai persisté.

Pendant le second 11-3, j’ai écris ceci parce que j’étais inquiet de voir le monde oublier Fukushima :
27% des réservoirs à eaux hautement contaminées vont nécessiter des réparations en 2016, “1 000 tonnes chacun”

La situation évolue exactement comme prévu (en pire)

La Nuclear Regulation Authority a classé la fuite des 300 m³ en “Niveau 3 INES”.
La presse Internationale, et même la BBC, reviennent en parler.

Pour moi, ce n’est pas pour le couvrir, ils ont voulu ignorer tous les autres problèmes.
Tout indique qu’ils continuent de minimiser.
mais, en fait, ils savent que c’est pire que ce à quoi ça ressemble alors ils couvrent.

Cette fuite de 300 m³ n’est qu’un début.
La preuve, dans les deux jours suivants Tepco en a trouvé 2 autres.

Toutes ces citernes sont du même type, dit type à collerette.
Elles ne sont pas soudées mais caoutchoutées, c’est plus fragile.
Elles sont supposées durer 5 ans mais elles sont utilisées dans un emplacement radioactif près de la mer.
Ça commence déjà à lâcher.
Tepco affirme qu’ils avaient du les construire en grande urgence, qu’ils n’avaient pas le temps de les souder. Ils continuent de monter des citernes de type à collerette.

Chacune contient 1 000 tonnes d’eau.
et on a entre 300 et 350 citernes à collerette dans la centrale nucléaire de Fukushima. (et ça augmente tous les jours)
Ces eaux menaçant de fuir n’ont pas été filtrées de leurs β-nucléides (strontium 90, etc.) et la radioactivité des césium 134/137 y est toujours intense.

Tepco ne pouvait même pas prendre la dose en surface de l’eau de la fuite cette fois-ci parce que c’est “trop chaud”.
Si on a pas trop de malchance, les eaux extrêmement radioactives de toutes ces 300~350 citernes de 1 000 tonnes dans la centrale ne vont pas fuir.

Il a fallu 1 mois pour que Tepco avoue la fuite de ces 300 m³.
Personne ne sait combien d’autres sont cachées en ce moment.

Rien n’a encore vraiment commencé.

Vous pouvez ignorer la vérité mais la vérité ne vous ignorera pas.

As I wrote in my previous post, TEPCO said at least 300 tonnes of highly contaminated (mostly beta nuclides) waste water after the RO (reverse osmosis) treatment may have leaked, because the water level of the tank that leaked was found to have dropped by 3.4 meters.

Well, not so fast.

Thanks to mostly TEPCO's extremely sloppy management of these steel tanks that hold highly contaminated RO waste water, it turns out we really don't know how many tonnes of this waste water has leaked from the tank No.5 in the area H4. It could be more, it could be less, but no one really knows.

How so?

Here are some of the topics discussed in the yesterday (August 21, 2013)'s long meeting of Nuclear Regulatory Authority's Working Group to deal with contaminated water at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant and which didn't get reported in the media. (Information from NRA's youtube video, presentations at the meeting, blogpost by @tsokdba, togetter by @mtx8mg)

1. Is it really "300 tonnes" leak?

"300 tonnes" of RO waste water leak assumes the tank No.5 had been actually close to full (about 96% of the capacity) before the leak started. But this turned out to be just an "assumption" (sound familiar?) on the part of TEPCO.

Why?

Because there is only one water gauge installed for the group of tanks. As TEPCO's diagram shows, the tank No.5 belongs to the tank group I which consists of the tanks No.5, 7, 8, 9, 10. The water gauge for the group is installed on the tank No.7. Note the tiny yellow star on the side of the tank No.7:

When the waste water is transported from the Reverse Osmosis Apparatus, it is fed to the tanks No. 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 evenly, because the tanks are connected to each other via the feed line. So when the tank No.7 becomes full, all the other tanks are assumed to be also full.

TEPCO had never measured the water level of the tank No.5 until this leak was found, and the company had to send workers on top the tank to stick in the tape measure.

Mr. Kinjo from the Nuclear Regulatory Agency (secretariat of NRA) asked if TEPCO had confirmed that the tank No.5 had been full. The answer was no.

2. Where has this "300 tonnes" (if it was actually 300 tonnes) of waste water been leaking from?

"300 tonnes" of RO waste water was supposed have leaked over a month, according to the media report. However, that's 10 tonnes, or 10,000 liters a day. Even for TEPCO, the amount is too large not to have spotted it much sooner. Workers who are sent out daily to patrol the site have been spotting leaks with few hundred liters. TEPCO says the workers didn't find anything until August 19.

TEPCO hasn't found any leak from the visible part of the tank itself, but the level of waste water in the tank continues to decrease, albeit at rates that are not consistent with the constant leak.

TEPCO measured the water level of the tank No.5 on August 20, and

• From 9:30AM to 3:30PM, the water level dropped by 5 centimeters.

• In the next 6 hours, it dropped by 1 centimeter.

• So in 12 hours it dropped by 6 centimeters, which translates into 10 tonnes in 24 hours.

(Hmmm. Why are there two different, drastically different rates? How could they extrapolate this into 24-hour rate?)

Could the leak be from the bottom of the tank, which is made of five 16-millimeter thick SS400 steel sheets fastened together? (They did use epoxy sealer inside to prevent corrosion.)

(From TEPCO's presentation to NRA Working Group, 8/21/2013)

Could the concrete platform have cracks through which the waste water has been leaking?

TEPCO couldn't answer, as there is no way to check the leak at the bottom of the tank unless the water is first emptied.

3. Has the water leaked into the open water?

TEPCO says they have found locations along the drain that have high radiation levels, and says the possibility cannot be denied.

However, the analysis of seawater on August 20 near the location where the C drain drains to the ocean shows cesium-137 at 0.0018 Bq/cm3, cesium-134 and all-beta were ND. If the waste water has been leaking into the ocean, the measurement at this location should show the high level of all-beta. It hasn't, so far, this time.

So, in conclusion, neither TEPCO nor NRA know exactly what's happening, and but at this point it is more likely than not that this waste water with high beta hasn't leaked much into the ocean, at least not through the drains located nearby.

There is a possibility that the tank No.5 wasn't full, and that it wasn't 300 tonnes that leaked. And there is a possibility that the leak is from the bottom of the tank, and it has been leaking through a crack in the concrete (if there's a crack). In case of the latter, radioactive materials, especially all-beta, will show up in the groundwater sooner or later if TEPCO monitors the wells for the groundwater bypass plan.

TEPCO has finished emptying the tank No.5, but the radiation level inside the tank is just too high right now for closer inspection, according to NHK.

But the facts (or I should say the lack thereof) don't matter much any more to most people, and the Japanese media (like NHK) is almost gleeful that the attention of foreign media like BBC, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, etc. is again on the plant. The most recent entity to weigh in is IAEA, saying it "views this matter seriously and remains ready to provide assistance on request."

Fukushima: the global fallout The Guardian The long, dark shadow cast by the meltdown at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station grew longer and darker on Wednesday as the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, Tepco, admitted that 300 tonnes of highly toxic water had leaked ...

Following up this article..[Tank leakage] 300m3, 24,000,000,000,000 Bq of β nuclide released / still keeps leaking [URL]

 

The Fukushima worker Happy11311 commented on Twitter that the extremely contaminated 300m3 of leaked water went to the radio relay station area, where is the worst place the water can go to.

 

<Translate>

The contaminated water leaked out of the local dam and it went to the northern area, where the radio relay station and the steel tower are located. This area has not sand bags so the cars can pass by. This is the worst place where the contaminated water can go.

<End>

今回のタンク漏えいで、コンクリート堰から漏れ流れて北側の無線中継所と鉄塔があるエリアに高線量の汚染水がいっちゃったみたいなんだけど、ちょうど大きな土嚢が設置してない場所なんだよね。車両が通る為に塞げない場所なんだけど、一番いっちゃダメな方向に漏れてしまったでし。

— ハッピー (@Happy11311) August 20, 2013

 

 

Iori Mochizuki

You can ignore the truth but the truth won’t ignore you.

_____

Français :

Le travailleur de Fukushima : “300 m³ de la fuite sont partis dans la zone de la station relais radio” / Le pire endroit à inonder

 

Article lié : [Fuite de citerne] 300m³, 24 000 milliards de Bq de β-nucléides / La fuite se poursuit

Happy11311, le travailleur de Fukushima, a déclaré sur Twitter que les 300 m³ se sont écoulés vers la station relais radio, le pire endroit où l’eau pouvait s’écouler.

<Traduction>
Les eaux extrêmement radioactives de la fuite sont passées par dessus le barrage de protection et se sont écoulées vers le nord où se trouvent la station de relais radio et la tour en acier. Cette zone n’est pas protégée par des sacs de sable pour laisser passer les voitures. C’est le pire endroit où pouvaient aller des eaux extrêmement radioactives.
<Fin>
今回のタンク漏えいで、コンクリート堰から漏れ流れて北側の無線中継所と鉄塔があるエリアに高線量の汚染水がいっちゃったみたいなんだけど、ちょうど大きな土嚢が設置してない場所なんだよね。車両が通る為に塞げない場所なんだけど、一番いっちゃダメな方向に漏れてしまったでし。
— ハッピー (@Happy11311) August 20, 2013

Vous pouvez ignorer la vérité mais la vérité ne vous ignorera pas.

Following up this article..Fukushima worker “Expiration date for use of the contaminated tanks is coming.” [URL]

 

Tepco held an extraordinary press conference for the leakage on 8/20/2013.

From their announcement, one of the tanks (No.5) lost 1/3 of the stocked water, which is approx. 300 tones.

Most of the leaked water has travelled out of the local dam. The total amount of leaking β nuclide is 24,000,000,000,000 Bq. The total amount of leaking Cesium-134 is 13,800,000,000 Bq. The total amount of leaking Cesium-137 is 30,000,000,000.

The leaking part is not identified yet. The leakage is still continuing.

Tepco is pumping up the leaked water but it’s still 4 tones.

 

http://www.tepco.co.jp/cc/press/2013/1229857_5117.html

http://www.tepco.co.jp/cc/press/2013/1229852_5117.html

http://www.tepco.co.jp/tepconews/library/movie-01j.html

 

 

Iori Mochizuki

You can ignore the truth but the truth won’t ignore you.

_____

Français :

[Fuite de citerne] 300m³, 24 000 milliards de Bq de β-nucléides / La fuite se poursuit

 

Article lié : Le travailleur de Fukushima : “Les citernes d’eau extrêmement radioactive approchent de leur date limite d’utilisation.”

Tepco a tenu une conférence de presse extraordinaire ce 20 août 2013 sur cette fuite.

Selon leur communiqué, une des citernes (la n°5) a perdu 1/3 de son contenu, soit environ 300 tonnes.
Le gros de la fuite est sortie par dessus le barrage de sécurité. La quantité totale en β-nucléides est de 24 000 000 000 000 Bq (24 Tera). Le total en césium 134 est de 13 800 000 000 Bq (13,8 milliards). Le total en césium 137 est de 30 000 000 000 (30 milliards).
L’origine de la fuite n’est pas encore déterminée. La fuite se poursuit.
Tepco pompe les eaux qui fuient mais ils n’en ont récupéré que 4 tonnes.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/cc/press/2013/1229857_5117.html
http://www.tepco.co.jp/cc/press/2013/1229852_5117.html
http://www.tepco.co.jp/tepconews/library/movie-01j.html

Vous pouvez ignorer la vérité mais la vérité ne vous ignorera pas.

coolnumbr12 writes "A Colorado teenager has used 3D printing to create a robotic prosthetic arm that is fully functional and costs less than $500 to make. At TedxMileHigh in Denver, Colo., 17-year-old Easton LaChappelle demonstrated his robotic arm, and how he constructed the arm to keep costs low. 'So in the end, I built this robotic arm up to the shoulder which was extremely strong,' LaChapelle said. 'It could toss balls to you, it could shake your hand, it could pretty much do anything a human could if you program it correctly.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

It's one thing after another at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. Today, it's the floating ponds.

Remember those in-the-ground water storage ponds that leaked back in April? They were originally constructed for storage of treated water. But as TEPCO was running out of above-the-ground steel tanks, TEPCO consulted with the then-regulator Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency bureaucrats and experts in August 2012. NISA officially allowed the use of these in-the-ground water storage ponds for highly contaminated, post-RO (reverse osmosis) waste water with high beta.

The ponds were lined with thin liners, as if they were garden ponds, and the water leaked. That was not what the elites at TEPCO and NISA were expected. TEPCO was forced to move the waste water into above-the-ground steel tanks.

These ponds have stood empty since May/June. Well of course they float.

Now, TEPCO announced that they found two of these ponds "floating", or bulging in the center. TEPCO doesn't say why, but Asahi Shinbun (8/13/2013) speculates it may be from the groundwater pressure:

貯水槽４０センチ浮く　福島第一原発、地下水の浮力か

In-the-ground water storage ponds float 40 centimeters [max] at Fukushima I Nuke Plant, probably due to buoyancy from groundwater

東京電力は１３日、福島第一原発で４月に汚染水が漏れた地下貯水槽が最大４０センチ浮き上がったと発表した。周囲を流れる地下水によって浮力が生じたことが原因とみられる。汚染水は地上タンクに移送され、貯水槽は空だった。東電は、新たな汚染水の漏れはないと説明している。

TEPCO announced on August 13 that the in-the-ground water storage ponds at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant which leaked contaminated water in April were found floating maximum 40 centimeters. It is probably due to buoyancy created by groundwater flowing around the ponds. The contaminated water has been transferred to the above-the-ground tanks, and the ponds are empty. TEPCO says there is no fresh leak of contaminated water.

　東電によると、高濃度の汚染水が入っていた３号貯水槽（縦５６メートル、横４５メートル、深さ６メートル）が最大約４０センチ浮き上がり、５、６号機の建屋地下の低濃度汚染水を入れていた４号貯水槽（縦４０メートル、横２５メートル、深さ６メートル）も最大約１５センチ浮き上がった。

According to TEPCO, the Pond No.3 (56 x 45 x 6 meters) that contained highly contaminated water is floating maximum 40 centimeters, and the Pond No.4 (40 x 25 x 6 meters) that contained low-contamination water from the basements of Reactors 5 and 6 buildings is floating maximum 15 centimeters.

　３、４号貯水槽は、いずれも１～４号機の建屋の山側にある。１日千トンの地下水が流れているという。貯水槽周辺の地下水位は４月から１メートル程度上昇したという。

The Pond No.3 and the Pond No.4 are located west (mountain-side) of the reactor buildings. According to TEPCO, 1,000 tonnes of groundwater is flowing there per day, and the groundwater levels in the area where the in-the-ground ponds are located have risen by 1 meter or so since April.

　対策として東電は、地下貯水槽の上に５０センチほどの砂利を敷き、重しにする。ゲリラ豪雨などで急に地下水位が上がった場合は、地下貯水槽の周囲の井戸から地下水をくみ出し、別の地下貯水槽に移すという。

As a countermeasure, TEPCO will put a 50-centimeter layer of gravel at the bottom of the ponds as weights. If the groundwater levels suddenly rise due to heavy rain, TEPCO will draw groundwater from the wells around the ponds and move the water to different ponds.

Uh... musical ponds?

Why don't they simply pump up the groundwater there and put it in these ponds?

It was just too bad and extremely short-sighted for TEPCO and NISA to use these ponds for highly contaminated waste water. They could have used these ponds to store clean groundwater before it goes anywhere near the reactor buildings and from there released into the ocean.

From TEPCO's handout for the press, 8/13/2013, Pond No.3: