Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières
No-go zone cleanup way behind schedule
Radiation cleanup in some of the most contaminated towns around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant is far behind schedule, so residents will have to wait a few more years before returning, officials said Monday.
Environment Ministry officials said they are revising the cleanup schedule for six of 11 municipalities in an exclusion zone from which residents were evacuated after three reactors at the Tokyo Electric Power Co. power complex went into meltdown following the March 2011 mega-quake and tsunami. The original plan called for completing all decontamination by next March.
Nobody has been allowed to live in the zone again yet, although the government has allowed day visits to homes and businesses in some areas after initial decontamination efforts, said Shigeyoshi Sato, an Environment Ministry official in charge of decontamination.
“We would have to extend the cleanup process, by one year, two years or three years, we haven’t exactly decided yet,” he said.
Sato cited several reasons for the delay, including a lack of space to store the waste that comes out of the decontamination process. Some residents have opposed dumping the waste in their neighborhoods.
The Asahi newspaper reported Saturday that the government is planning an extension of up to three years in areas including Iitate, a village northwest of the plant where a highly radioactive plume spread in the first few days of the crisis without public warning.
An International Atomic Energy Agency team is also finishing a weeklong visit to check cleanup progress in Kawauchi, a less-contaminated community that has been partially opened to living again. So far, about 40 percent of KawauchiÅfs population of 3,000 has returned to the village.
The government hopes to restore lost communities in some areas around the plant, but challenges remain in ensuring food safety and job security.
Fukushima Water Crisis
Tepco may use undamaged reactor buildings for water storage
FUKUSHIMA — Tokyo Electric Power Co. may use the buildings housing the two undamaged reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant as temporary storage for rainwater, Tepco Executive Vice President Yoshiyuki Ishizaki said.
Tepco is looking at whether the basements under reactors 5 and 6 can be used to temporarily store contaminated rainwater, Ishizaki, head of the companyÅfs Fukushima Revitalization Headquarters, said Tuesday.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe asked Tepco in September to decommission the two reactors in addition to the four reactors that were heavily damaged in March 2011.
Tepco will decide on the fate of reactors 5 and 6 by the end of the year. The two reactors managed to avoid the meltdowns and hydrogen explosions that marked the beginning of the catastrophe.
The site has been hit by a series of leaks and spills of radioactive water since September due to heavy rain.
To prevent such accidents, Tepco is transferring contaminated rainwater from inside barriers surrounding storage tanks to the basements of the No. 2 and No. 3 reactor buildings.
Water levels in the basements have risen considerably and Tepco needs to find new places to store the radioactive water.
Jiji Press, October 29, 2013
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/10/29/national/tepco-may-use-undamaged-reactor-buildings-for-water-storage/#.UnVyiSdjbRY
Spilt rainwater at Fukushima plant contains high levels of radiation
High levels of radiation have been detected in the rainwater that overflowed from concrete barriers around storage tanks holding contaminated water at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant in six of 23 zones on the premises, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has announced.
TEPCO said on Oct. 21 that the rainwater from the previous day spilt over from 30-centimeter-tall concrete barriers around storage tanks in 11 zones, among which spilt rainwater contained radioactive materials in excess of TEPCO’s voluntary emission standards in six zones. The utility is investigating the total amount of spilt rainwater and its effects on the environment.
Rainfall from Oct. 20 brought TEPCO’s insufficient management of rainwater containing radioactive materials to the surface, and the utility is hastily arranging additional measures against looming Typhoon No. 27, such as supplying 30 more pumps as well as hoses to transfer the rainwater.
According to the rainwater emission criteria that TEPCO voluntarily laid out, the utility allows itself to discharge less than 15 becquerels of radioactive cesium 134 per liter of water, less than 25 becquerels of cesium 137 per liter of water, and less than 10 becquerels of strontium 90 per liter of water. The emission criteria also require no gamma ray-emitting radioactive materials except for cesium to be detected in discharged rainwater.
When TEPCO analyzed the rainwater that spilled from the concrete barriers, 10 to 710 becquerels of strontium 90 per liter of water were detected in six zones — exceeding the self-set emission criteria. The maximum of 710 becquerels was detected in the “H2 south area,” to the west of a zone where some 300 metric tons of radiation-contaminated water had leaked in August. The levels of cesium detected in the spilled rainwater either fell below measureable limits or the voluntary emission criteria.
“It is difficult to retrieve the spilled rainwater (in the six zones),” TEPCO said.
The flooding of rainwater from the concrete barriers was first found on the evening of Oct. 20, and continued until the rain stopped late at night. While TEPCO first announced on the night of Oct. 20 that rainwater had spilt from the barriers in 12 zones, it later revised the figure, saying that a subsequent survey found no such flooding in the “H1 east area.”
Mainichi Shimbun, October 21, 2013
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20131021p2a00m0na020000c.html
Radioactive cesium again detected off coast of Fukushima plant
FUKUSHIMA, Japan (Kyodo) — Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Tuesday it has detected radioactive cesium about 1 kilometer off the coast of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant for the second time since it started the survey in August.
Radioactive cesium-137 was detected at a level of 1.6 becquerels per liter from seawater extracted Friday, higher than the reading measured earlier at the same survey point. But the plant operator said it believes the impact on the environment is “little.”
The latest data could further undermine Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s repeated remarks that the situation involving the buildup of massive radioactive water at the plant in northeastern Japan is “under control” and that the impact of radiation leaks is contained inside the plant’s port.
From seawater extracted on Oct. 8, 1.4 becquerels per liter of cesium-137 was detected.
The figures are lower than the legal limit for the release of cesium-137 from nuclear power plants, which is set at 90 becquerels per liter. They are also below the radiation level of the World Health Organization’s safety standards for drinking water.
Kyodo News, October 22, 2013
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20131022p2g00m0dm065000c.html
Drain water radiation level more than doubles at Fukushima plant
TOKYO (Kyodo) — The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant said Thursday the radiation level of water from a drainage channel near the tank that leaked 300 tons of highly toxic water in August has more than doubled.
The water, extracted Wednesday, indicated a record high 140,000 becquerels per liter of beta radiation emitted by radioactive materials such as strontium-90, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said. The previous day’s reading was 59,000 becquerels.
TEPCO said the spike in the radiation level may be attributable to the recent heavy rain that has caused soil contaminated with radioactive substances to enter the drainage channel.
The channel is located near a cluster of tanks that hold highly radioactive water produced as a result of continuing water injections into the three reactors that suffered meltdowns during the March 2011 nuclear disaster.
TEPCO is struggling more than ever during the current typhoon season to prevent leaks as rainwater accumulates inside the leak-protection barriers around the tanks.
With another typhoon approaching Japan’s mainland, the company said Thursday that it has started pumping out water from the 30-centimeter-high barriers to underground tanks.
TEPCO stopped using the seven underground tanks at the plant after three were found to have leaked water in April.
But it has been forced to reopen three tanks confirmed leak-free as temporary storage facilities.
The water that is being pumped out contains a maximum 970 becquerels per liter of strontium-90, TEPCO said.
The legal limit for the release of strontium-90 into the sea outside the nuclear power plant is set at 30 becquerels per liter. Strontium tends to accumulate in bones and is thought to cause bone cancer and leukemia.
Kyodo News, October 24, 2013
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20131024p2g00m0dm081000c.html
NRA allows TEPCO to discharge rainwater at Fukushima plant
Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. will be allowed to discharge rainwater from barriers around tanks holding radioactive water at the plant in case of heavy downpours, the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) said Oct. 24.
The decision comes after the 30-centimeter-tall concrete barriers around some tank groups overflowed during heavy rainfall on Oct. 20. The collecting rainwater had not been checked for radioactive contamination.
Toyoshi Fuketa, one of the NRA commissioners, said, “We understand the situation is difficult, but we believe we’ve decided on a measure TEPCO would be able to follow.”
Of 23 tank groups at the Fukushima plant, rainwater overflowed the barriers at 11, while radioactive substances higher than the maximum allowable emission level were detected in rainwater that stayed contained behind the walls at six groups.
During the Oct. 20 downpour, TEPCO unilaterally decided to open the barrier valves, which should remain closed in principle, to discharge rainwater with radiation levels lower than the allowable limit.
In the Oct. 24 decision, the NRA authorized TEPCO to discharge rainwater from around 11 tank groups where the water was below the allowable radiation level on Oct. 20, as long as the limit is not exceeded during the next heavy downpour. It also told the company to close the valve after the rainwater has been drained, and gave the green light to transferring rainwater that tops the allowable radiation level to underground tanks. Use of the underground tanks is currently suspended.
As a general rule, water accumulating within the barriers is subjected to radiation screening after being transferred into tanks. The rainwater can be discharged if the levels of four radioactive substances come below set targets, including cesium 137 at less than 25 becquerels per liter.
Mainichi Shimbun, October 25, 2013
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20131025p2a00m0na010000c.html
Loose packing responsible for leak of radiation-tainted water from tank: TEPCO
Some 300 tons of radioactively contaminated water leaked from a storage tank on the grounds of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant because waterproof packing between steel sheets in the tank was pushed out of alignment, the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), has announced.
TEPCO reported the cause of the leak at a Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) task force meeting on Oct. 15.
Officials suspect that metal on the bottom of the tank expanded and contracted due to temperature changes, and that water pressure forced some of the packing down outside the tank, creating a gap through which water was able to leak out.
There are a total of 956 similarly designed tanks on the power plant grounds, and TEPCO is poised to take measures to prevent further leaks, such as covering the bottom of the tanks with a waterproof coating.
The leak occurred in a cylindrical tank whose bolted seams were filled with resin-based packing to prevent water from leaking. When workers took apart the tank to inspect it, they found that some of the packing had been pushed down outside the tank, and that two bolts in this part of the tank were loose, apparently leaving the spot vulnerable to water pressure.
Mainichi Shimbun, October 14, 2013
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20131016p2a00m0na023000c.html
Tepco’s toxic water failures pitiful: NRA
Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s efforts to keep radioactive water at its stricken Fukushima No. 1 power station from spilling into the sea have been ineffective, according to the Nuclear Regulation Authority.
“Our conclusion is that little effect has been seen” in Tepco’s measures, NRA Commissioner Toyoshi Fuketa said at an NRA panel meeting Tuesday, citing an increase in the levels of radioactive materials in some seawater samples collected near the plant.
Tepco is pumping up groundwater and has injected a water-stopping agent into the ground near the plant’s port in order to curb the flow of radioactive groundwater into the sea.
Despite such efforts, the levels of cesium-137 in seawater samples collected between the water intakes for reactors 1 and 2 inside the port rose to around 100 becquerels per liter this month from around 10 becquerels between late June and early July.
“It is reasonable to assume that the total amount of radioactive materials flowing into the sea has risen,” said Masaya Yasui, an emergency response official at the NRA secretariat.
Radioactive water from the damaged reactors “may be leaking directly into the sea instead of mixing with groundwater before making its way into the sea,” Fuketa said.
Last week, Tepco said the cesium level was 1.4 becquerels per liter of seawater sampled on Oct. 8 at a point 1 km from the seawall of the power plant, far below the safety limit of 10 becquerels for drinking water set by the World Health Organization.
But radioactive cesium was detected at the point for the first time since the firm started radioactivity checks there in mid-August.
Jiji Press, October 16, 2013
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/10/16/national/tepcos-toxic-water-failures-pitiful-nra/#.UnGsfydjbRY
Abe claims Fukushima radioactive water woes are “under control”
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Wednesday the impact from accumulating radioactive water at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant has been “under control.”
The government will “continue efforts to address the problem with multiple preventive measures,” using the world’s wisdom, Abe told a plenary session of the House of Representatives.
“The situation has been under control as a whole,” Abe reckoned, answering questions from Banri Kaieda, head of the Democratic Party of Japan, about the policy speech Abe delivered Tuesday when the Diet convened an extraordinary session. The DPJ was in power when the Fukushima nuclear crisis started in 2011.
Abe’s repeated no-cause-for-alarm assessments of the situation at the Fukushima plant, which suffered three reactor-core meltdowns shortly after it was hit by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and monster tsunami, are raising the eyebrows of critics who regard the condition as worrying and warn of possible negative fallout on the environment and industries.
Kyodo News, October 16, 2013
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/10/16/national/abe-claims-fukushima-radioactive-water-woes-are-under-control/#.UnGzFCdjbRY
Radiation level in Fukushima No. 1 ditch hits record high
FUKUSHIMA — The highest level yet of beta ray-emitting radioactive substances, including strontium, has been detected at one point in a drainage ditch at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant where measurements are regularly taken, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Thursday.
According to Tepco, a water sample taken Wednesday at a point in the ditch some 300 meters from the ocean was found to contain 1,400 becquerels per liter of beta ray-emitting radioactive substances, the highest level ever detected at that location.
Tepco said water that passed through the ditch may have entered the sea.
A water sample taken Tuesday at the same point contained 19 becquerels of such radioactive substances.
The radiation level surged after heavy rain caused by Typhoon Wipha, which hit the Tohoku region, including Fukushima Prefecture, on Wednesday, Tepco said. It is thought the rain washed out radioactive substances that had been absorbed by the ground.
Radiation levels also hit record highs in water samples collected Wednesday at three upstream points in the drainage ditch, which passes close to the storage tank from which highly radioactive water spilled in August, with the amount of beta ray-emitting radioactive substances ranging from 2,000 to 2,300 becquerels per liter.
Tepco said it was unable to take seawater samples near the exit of the ditch because of bad weather.
Jiji Press, October 17, 2013
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/10/17/national/radiation-level-in-fukushima-no-1-ditch-hits-record-high/#.UnG84ydjbRY
High levels of radiation detected in well at Fukushima plant
Highly radioactive materials measuring 400,000 becquerels per liter of water were detected in water taken from a well at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has announced.
TEPCO said the high concentrations of radioactive substances — including strontium 90 — were detected in the water taken on Oct. 17 from a 7-meter-deep groundwater observation well near an aboveground storage tank, where some 300 metric tons of highly contaminated water had leaked earlier. The concentrations of strontium 90 in the well water are way beyond the government-set emission standard of 30 becquerels or less per liter, and are 125 times the maximum amount observed in the well in the past.
The well is one of eight observation wells that were dug in early September. Because the well is located 15 meters away from the storage tank that leaked 300 tons of contaminated water, the water in the well holds higher concentrations of radioactive materials than that in the other wells. The previous maximum concentration was 3,200 becquerels per liter detected in the well’s water on Sept. 8.
“We don’t know the reason (for the increased concentration),” TEPCO said. However, since the well is covered with a lid, the utility surmised that “the effect of highly contaminated water leaked (from the nearby tank) is one possibility.”
Because the well is located upstream of another well as part of a bypass plan, in which groundwater will be pumped up to be released into the ocean before making its way into nuclear reactor buildings, the latest finding could affect the viability of the plan.
Meanwhile, TEPCO said a record 34,000 becquerels per liter of radioactive substances were detected in water taken on Oct. 17. from a drain ditch nearby, which leads to the outer sea. The figure amounts to 15 times the concentrations announced the day before after TEPCO detected up to 2,300 becquerels per liter of radioactive substances in water in the ditch.
“It is likely that contaminated soil surrounding the area made its way into the ditch along with rainwater brought by Typhoon No. 26,” TEPCO said. It added, however, that “the concentrations (of radioactive materials) had never spiked this sharply after previous typhoons.”
TEPCO denied the possibility of the contaminated water in the ditch having leaked into the outer ocean on the grounds that the water is blocked by sandbags.
Mainichi Shimbun, October 18, 2013
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20131018p2a00m0na004000c.html
High level of radioactive tritium found in Fukushima groundwater
A record 790,000 becquerels of radioactive tritium per liter of well water has been detected near a tank on the premises of the crippled nuclear plant in Fukushima Prefecture from which about 300 tons of highly radioactive water has leaked, its operators said.
The amount is 2.5 times the radioactivity detected on Oct. 10, which measured 320,000 becquerels, according to Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the operator of the tsunami-hit Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant.
Furthermore, a record 400,000 becquerels per liter of other radioactive substances that emit beta rays, such as radioactive strontium-90, have been detected in water from the observation well. TEPCO made the finding after analyzing samples taken from the well on Oct. 17.
The well is one of eight that were drilled in early September to check whether underground water on the premises of the power station is contaminated with radioactive substances, and is only 20 meters north of the tank from which highly radioactive water leaked.
TEPCO officials said workers were unable to completely remove soil contaminated with radioactive water because piping and other pump equipment lies north of the well. The well was covered with a lid.
An advanced liquid processing system (ALPS) installed at the plant does not have the capability to remove tritium from radioactively contaminated water.
As to the reason for a sharp rise in the concentration of radioactive substances, TEPCO pointed to the possibility that such substances flowed in as a result of rain brought by Typhoon Wipha, contaminating the underground water. The power company is considering removing contaminated soil and pumping up tainted underground water.
Mainichi Shimbun, October 18, 2013
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20131019p2a00m0na007000c.html
Reactors Fuel
Tepco eyes fuel removal from Fukushima reactor 4 pool in early November
Tokyo Electric Power Co. plans to start removing nuclear fuel from the spent-fuel pool at the top of the reactor 4 building at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 plant as early as Nov. 8, about a week earlier than scheduled, sources close to Tepco said Wednesday.
The process, to continue until the end of next year, will mark a new stage in the decommissioning of the reactors 1 to 4, which were severely damaged in the nuclear crisis triggered by the March 11, 2011, mega-quake and tsunami.
Reactor 4 unit was the only one of the four not to experience a meltdown because its fuel had been in the spent-fuel pool during maintenance work. But there is concern over the continued storage of the more than 1,000 fuel assemblies in the pool, which is located inside a reactor building that suffered a hydrogen explosion.
Tepco had planned to begin the process from mid-November, but it has nearly completed preparations, including the installation of a crane to remove the fuel.
If the safety of the equipment is confirmed by the Nuclear Regulation Authority, Tepco will start taking out the fuel.
The fuel will be placed in containers and taken to what has been called a common pool in a different building about 100 meters away that is expected to provide more stable conditions for keeping the fuel cool.
The reactor 4 spent-fuel tank currently contains 1,331 spent fuel assemblies and 202 unused ones. Tepco succeeded in taking out two unused fuel assemblies in a trial last year.
Kyodo News, October 23, 2013
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/10/23/national/tepco-eyes-fuel-removal-from-fukushima-reactor-4-pool-in-early-november/#.UnLlwSdjbRY
Japan open to all ideas on how Fukushima No. 1 can be scrapped
Japan will solicit proposals from both domestic and overseas nuclear experts and firms on how best to scrap the ruined reactors at Tokyo Electric Power Co’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, officials said Thursday.
The International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning will publicly seek ideas as early as this month, an institute official said.
While it is not presently putting the entire decommissioning process out to tender, the body’s move will be welcomed by the international community, which has long called for Japan to make better use of available expertise around the globe.
The institute, formed by nuclear-related firms and government-backed bodies in August to dismantle the crippled reactors, will screen decommissioning proposals and take the results to the government, the official said.
“We will set up a website in both Japanese and English to notify interested parties at home and abroad of our calls for decommissioning ideas so that we can offer more useful and practical proposals to the government,” the official said.
The central government has played an increasingly active role in the clean-up at Fukushima, where the March 2011 tsunami disabled cooling systems, sending three reactors into meltdown.
Tepco’s own estimates suggest that the full decommissioning of the site could take up to four decades and that much of the trickier work is yet to be done – notably the removal of reactor cores that have probably melted beyond recognition.
According to the utility’s own plan, these cores – which are feared to have entered the containment vessels and possibly even eaten through thick concrete – are to be removed around summer 2020.
AFP-Jiji Press, October 17, 2013
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/10/17/national/japan-open-to-all-ideas-on-how-fukushima-no-1-can-be-scrapped/#.UnG-eSdjbRY
Twitter
Facebook