Fukushima

[mbrownn]

Keep up the good work, I count you as my primary source of info on this subject

[Mad Scientist]

Yes you have a glowing reputation one that’s not dusted of lightly.

[blackchisel97]

Tepco: Strontium leaking into ocean — Tons more highly contaminated water enters sea — “TEPCO has apologized for the incident and says it will determine the cause and extent of the leakage”

Title: Another strontium leak at Fukushima nuclear plant
Source: NHK
Date: Thursday, April 05, 2012 10:23 +0900 (JST)

Tokyo Electric Power Company says more radioactive wastewater has leaked from its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The water contained high levels of strontium.

[...] the company says some of the wastewater may have flowed into a ditch leading to the ocean.

TEPCO has apologized for the incident and says it will determine the cause and extent of the leakage. [...]

Title: Strontium at Fukushima plant flows into sea
Source: NHK
Date: Thursday, April 05, 2012 12:34 +0900 (JST)

[...] TEPCO says about 12 tons of wastewater leaked from a disconnected joint in the pipe. The company also says it believes that a large portion of the water has flowed into the ocean through a nearby drainage ditch.

The utility is trying to determine how the joint became disconnected, and how much water poured into the sea. [...]

Dumping contaminated water into the sea is probably ongoing, with consequences that will be both unprecedented and terrible…

Possible Fukushima Leak Renews Concerns About Plant’s Stability
Source: Wall Street Journal
Author: By YUKA HAYASHI
Date: April 5, 2012, 7:09 a.m. ET

Water containing radioactive substances may have leaked into the ocean from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, the plant operator said Thursday, the latest example of continued problems at the stricken plant [...]

The company estimates roughly 12 tons of contaminated water may have escaped into the ocean. High levels of cesium 134 and 137 were confirmed at the point of the leak [...]

Such problems have cast doubts about the plant’s stability long after the government declared in late December the reactors had been brought under control.

Japan nuke plant leaks radioactive water again
Source: AP
Date: April 5, 2012

[...] The leak comes as Tokyo Electric Power Co. struggles to keep the melted reactors cool and contain radiation and raises concerns about its ability to keep the plant stable. Similar leaks have occurred several times since last year, and officials say they do not pose an immediate health threat.

Workers spotted the leak early Thursday coming from a section of hose on a device used to decontaminate cooling water leaking from reactors. The company said it appeared to have stopped the leak. [...]

“Our officials confirmed that cooling water leaked at a joint in the pipes [...] it is possible that part of the water may have flowed outside the facility and poured into the ocean” -Tepco spokesman

Cyanobacteria over 1,000,000 Bq/kg outside Minamisoma City Hall

Normally blue-green algae in south Soma city is black...
Source: Minamisoma city council member Koichi Oyama
Date: April 4, 2012

1) 405,000 Becquerel /Kg before the headquarter
�相馬市�黒��藻分布①本陣� - YouTube

2) town city hall 1,080,000 Bq
�相馬市�黒��藻分布②本町108万Bq/Kg - YouTube

3) Around central post office
�相馬市�黒��藻分布③ - YouTube

Tritium spreads underground of Fukushima plant
Posted by Mochizuki on April 4th, 2012

1.6E+6 Bq/m3 of Tritium was measured from a deep well in the plant area of Fukushima (500m away from the reactor buildings), Tepco announced in their press conference of 4/4/2012.
Last time they measured beta nuclides from the same well on 11/19/2011, tritium was ND, which shows the underground contamination has been expanding since then.

From the press release of 4/4/2012, Tepco measured 1.3E+6 Bq/m3 of tritium from the sub drain of reactor 2, and 1.8E+6 Bq/m3 from the one of reactor5, which are the same level as what they measured from the deep well.
As to tritium, underground water is as contaminated as sub drain of reactors.


Marine contamination reached Philippines last April...

Kobayashi fellow-researcher from Japan Atomic Energy Agency analyzed that 18,000 trillion Bq of Iodine 131 and cesium 134 + 137 directly leaked from Fukushima to Pacific ocean.
However, because it is the estimation after 3/26, it would be much more than that if it includes what leaked from 3/11 to 3/25.
Also, it will be a several times much as 18,000 trillion Bq to count the radiation to fall from air down to the sea.
From their simulation, marine contamination already reached Philippines by 4/10/2011, will reach Hawaii by March of 2014, where is 5300 km away from Fukushima.


Madness

Japanese 'Ghost Ship' Off B.C. To Be Sunk

V

[mbrownn]

Interesting that this video has been deleted

Japanese 'Ghost Ship' Off B.C. To Be Sunk

I wonder if it really was deleted by the user or was it youtube?

[blackchisel97]

Former UN advisor: If No. 4 pool collapses I’ve been told “during 50 years continual, you cannot contain”

Statement by Akio Matsumura:

The crisis at the Fukushima-Daiichi power plants has not ended. While the first three reactors contained fuel and presented a serious threat since March 11, 2011, they have largely been contained. Reactor 4 contained no fuel when the earthquake hit. Instead, the spent fuel rods had been moved to a cooling pool on the second floor of the containment unit. [...] If another high level earthquake hits the area, the building will certainly collapse. Japanese and American meteorologists have predicted that such a strong earthquake is indeed likely to hit this year.

The meltdown and unprecedented release of radiation that would ensue is the worst case scenario that then-Prime Minister Kan and other former officials have discussed in the past months. He warned during his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos that such an accident would force the evacuation of the 35 million people in Tokyo, close half of Japan and compromise the nation’s sovereignty. Such a humanitarian and environmental catastrophe is unimaginable. [...]

Title: Fukushima Reactor 4
Uploaded by: christopherjamescote
Date Uploaded: Mar 8, 2012
Description: Akio Matsumura talks about nuclear power plants, spent fuel pools, and the trouble with Reactor 4 at Fukushima.

At 2:30 in

Matsumura: People said to me more than 50 years it might take to contain radiation. So during 50 years radiation continue on… During 50 years continual, you cannot contain.

V

[blackchisel97]

an issue of human survival...

Fukushima Daiichi Site: Cesium-137 is 85 times greater than at Chernobyl Accident
Source: Akio Matsumura
Date: updated on 4/5/12

[...] I asked top spent-fuel pools expert Mr. Robert Alvarez, former Senior Policy Adviser to the Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretary for National Security and the Environment at the U.S. Department of Energy, for an explanation of the potential impact of the 11,421 rods.

I received an astounding response from Mr. Alvarez [updated 4/5/12]:

In recent times, more information about the spent fuel situation at the Fukushima-Dai-Ichi site has become known. It is my understanding that of the 1,532 spent fuel assemblies in reactor No. 304 assemblies are fresh and unirradiated. This then leaves 1,231 irradiated spent fuel rods in pool No. 4, which contain roughly 37 million curies (~1.4E+18 Becquerel) of long-lived radioactivity. The No. 4 pool is about 100 feet above ground, is structurally damaged and is exposed to the open elements. If an earthquake or other event were to cause this pool to drain this could result in a catastrophic radiological fire involving nearly 10 times the amount of Cs-137 released by the Chernobyl accident.

The infrastructure to safely remove this material was destroyed as it was at the other three reactors. Spent reactor fuel cannot be simply lifted into the air by a crane as if it were routine cargo. In order to prevent severe radiation exposures, fires and possible explosions, it must be transferred at all times in water and heavily shielded structures into dry casks.. As this has never been done before, the removal of the spent fuel from the pools at the damaged Fukushima-Dai-Ichi reactors will require a major and time-consuming re-construction effort and will be charting in unknown waters. Despite the enormous destruction cased at the Da–Ichi site, dry casks holding a smaller amount of spent fuel appear to be unscathed.

Based on U.S. Energy Department data, assuming a total of 11,138 spent fuel assemblies are being stored at the Dai-Ichi site, nearly all, which is in pools. They contain roughly 336 million curies (~1.2 E+19 Bq) of long-lived radioactivity. About 134 million curies is Cesium-137 — roughly 85 times the amount of Cs-137 released at the Chernobyl accident as estimated by the U.S. National Council on Radiation Protection (NCRP). The total spent reactor fuel inventory at the Fukushima-Daichi site contains nearly half of the total amount of Cs-137 estimated by the NCRP to have been released by all atmospheric nuclear weapons testing, Chernobyl, and world-wide reprocessing plants (~270 million curies or ~9.9 E+18 Becquerel).

It is important for the public to understand that reactors that have been operating for decades, such as those at the Fukushima-Dai-Ichi site have generated some of the largest concentrations of radioactivity on the planet.

Many of our readers might find it difficult to appreciate the actual meaning of the figure, yet we can grasp what 85 times more Cesium-137 than the Chernobyl would mean. It would destroy the world environment and our civilization. This is not rocket science, nor does it connect to the pugilistic debate over nuclear power plants. This is an issue of human survival. [...]

V

[blackchisel97]

I just received this link couple min ago - Jimstonefreelance.com - Did the Dimona Dozen murder the Fukushima 50?

V

[mire]

There should have been urgency for all governments of the world to have helped them when it was needed last year.. The japanese refused help and told Green peace to get lost.

Now that we near the 03-11-2011 anniversary there is even greater concern.
If a 3rd great quake was to happen between march 23 and april 10 2012 and it did find japan once again, i would think the people of that country would want answers. I hope they would ask why.

My research as to the cause of the great quake is not important, but if it was a annual occurrence then all the governments have lied to all the people of the world..

That is Crazy.

Baja California, northern Cali, japan, chili, and Siberia. any one of these can have the next great quake IMO.

I hope this is not the case, but the evidence tells me there is at least an 80 % chance of another great quake close to 12 days after march 11.

1 Feb 27 2010 2 March 11 2011 3? March 23 2012?

just want to say thanks for the updates.

Does the world really want answers? the truth?

I would hope so after this..

peace all ..

[blackchisel97]

Nitrogen injection temporarily stops at Fukushima Daiichi reactors
Source: Kyodo
Date: April 13, 2012

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said the injection of nitrogen gas into three nuclear reactor containers [...] stopped temporarily after 1 a.m. Friday.

The company has continued injecting nitrogen gas into the containers of Nos. 1, 2 and 3 reactors to prevent a hydrogen explosion. After using a backup system the injector resumed [...]

This is the fourth time since March that the injection of nitrogen gas has stopped, the company said. [...]

Nitrogen injection stopped again
Source: Fukushima Diary
Date: April 12, 2012

Tepco sent another emergency email to the journalists at 04:18:37JST 4/13/2012.

[Translation]

At 1:30 of 4/13/2012, Tepco staff confirmed nitrogen injection equipment was automatically stopped because it was alarmed that the air compressor went out of order at 1:04.
At 3:10, nitrogen injection was restarted by using another nitrogen injection equipment. [...]

Just In: Now 7 quakes hit same area near Fukushima Daiichi — Includes M5.2 within the hour

21:56 JST 13 Apr 2012 21:52 JST 13 Apr 2012 Fukushima-ken Oki M3.6 1
21:33 JST 13 Apr 2012 21:30 JST 13 Apr 2012 Ibaraki-ken Oki M4.2 3
21:20 JST 13 Apr 2012 21:15 JST 13 Apr 2012 Fukushima-ken Oki M3.4 1
21:16 JST 13 Apr 2012 21:12 JST 13 Apr 2012 Fukushima-ken Oki M5.2 3
20:09 JST 13 Apr 2012 20:04 JST 13 Apr 2012 Fukushima-ken Oki M4.0 1
19:38 JST 13 Apr 2012 19:33 JST 13 Apr 2012 Fukushima-ken Oki M4.1 2
19:21 JST 13 Apr 2012 19:16 JST 13 Apr 2012 Fukushima-ken Oki M4.5 2
19:21 JST 13 Apr 2012 19:10 JST 13 Apr 2012 Fukushima-ken Oki M5.9 4

Also - Problems escalate at California’s San Onofre nuke plant — Second reactor in jeopardy

Title: More problems found at San Onofre nuclear power plant
Source: Los Angeles Times
Author: Abby Sewell
Date: April 12, 2012

Southern California Edison officials said Wednesday that they are now seeing the same unusual type of wear on steam generator tubes at both of the San Onofre nuclear plant’s reactor units.

In recent months, officials have found unexpected wear on more than 300 tubes [...]

What was even more unusual was the type of wear at Unit 3, which has now also been discovered at Unit 2. Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials said the tubes in Unit 3 were vibrating excessively and rubbing against each other. Initially, they said that the wear occurring at Unit 2 appeared to be different.

But in a statement Wednesday, Edison said it had found “additional minor tube wear” in Unit 2 of a type that is “similar to the type of wear that was seen in Unit 3, but at a very low level.” [...] San Onofre has been out of commission since Jan. 31, when a tube in Unit 3 sprung a leak, releasing a small amount of radioactive steam. [...]

The NRC has prohibited the plant from firing up again until the cause of the wear is understood. [...]

Odd tube wear seen in both Onofre reactors
Source: The Orange County Register
Author: PAT BRENNAN
Date: April 12, 2012

[...] “We’ve informed the NRC that we have identified additional minor tube wear in one of the Unit 2 steam generators, and this newly identified wear is similar to the type of wear previously seen in Unit 3,” [Jennifer Manfre, spokeswoman for plant operator Southern California Edison] said.

The cause of the wear in hundreds of steam generator tubes in both reactors remains a mystery. While the more common type of tube wear seen in Unit 2 is typical throughout the life of steam generators, San Onofre’s four steam generator units — two for reach reactor — are only two years old. [...]

V

[blackchisel97]

radioactive water spill at Limerick nuke plant

NRC reveals radioactive water spill at Limerick nuke plant
Source: The Mercury
Author: Evan Brandt
Date: April 13, 2012
Emphasis Added

“Several thousand gallons” of water containing as much as five-times the government’s “safe” level of radioactive tritium was accidentally released at Exelon Nuclear’s Limerick Generating Station last month and then flushed into the Schuylkill River, The Mercury learned Thursday.

Public Kept in Dark Due to Unclear, Voluntary Reporting Requirements Set by Industry

However the concentrations of contamination in the water were considered so low that they presented “no immediate health and safety concerns,” according to the Nuclear Regulatory Agency, which is why the incident was not reported publicly until 23 days after it happened.
“When formal notifications are made to the state, we expect to receive a written notification to us [...] The company initially said it wasn’t clear whether such a submittal was needed (under the reporting requirements of NEI voluntary Groundwater Protection Initiative) [...] But we insisted that it was needed, and the company ultimately agreed.” -NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan

“Routine”

It was 3 a.m. Monday, March 19 when “a manhole cover overflowed during a scheduled and permitted radiological release,” according to an incident report posted on the NRC web site.
“several thousand gallons of water [...] was discharged” through a permitted discharge to Possum Hollow Creek, which flows from the plant grounds into the Schuylkill River,” according to information from the NRC.
Exelon estimated something less than 15,000 gallons, was legally dumped into the Schuylkill River, which is a drinking water source for several downstream communities, including Phoenixville and Philadelphia.
“It’s important to note that the Limerick and other nuclear power plants routinely release slightly radioactive water to the river, but the releases must be controlled and any levels of radioactivity well within allowable limits,” [NRC's] Sheehan wrote.

“Slightly Radioactive”?

NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan wrote in an e-mail that the “maximum level of radioactivity detected in Possum Hollow Creek . . . on the day of the event was 495 picocuries per liter of tritium.”
One water sample collected from a puddle near the manhole from which the water first emerged, had a tritium concentration of 113,000 picocuries per liter [Several thousand gallons released]

“Regardless, we made the courtesy notifications because we like to keep stakeholders and community members informed” -Dana Melia, communications manager for the Limerick Generating Station.

V

[blackchisel97]

"All nuclear reactors will be shut down in Japan”

Edano: All reactors temporarily offline in May
Source: AJW by The Asahi Shimbun
Date: April 16, 2012

Industry minister Yukio Edano said April 15 that all nuclear reactors in Japan will be offline temporarily from May 6 [...]

The central government has been trying to restart the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at the Oi nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture, but it has met local opposition. [...]

It was the first time for the government to acknowledge that all nuclear reactors will be shut down in Japan. Japan has always had at least one reactor online since the years immediately after the nation’s first commercial reactor started operations in 1966. [...]

V

[blackchisel97]

This time from Australia...

Vomiting road workers hospitalized after exposing mysterious nuclear waste
Source: Fox News
Date: Apr 18, 2012

Vomiting road workers hospitalized after exposing mysterious nuclear waste

Road workers began vomiting and were hospitalized Wednesday after being exposed to suspected nuclear material, unearthed during a highway upgrade in Australia.

Meanwhile the country’s nuclear authority was scrambling for answers after the apparent radioactive waste was uncovered on the Pacific Highway south of Port Macquarie, in New South Wales.

The material, said to include cesium, is believed to have been buried after a truck carrying radioactive isotopes from Sydney’s Lucas Heights nuclear reactor crashed in the area in December 1980, The (Sydney) Daily Telegraph reported. The isotopes are believed to have been destined for the US. [...]

And in scenes akin to a Hollywood disaster film, officials from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANTSO) — the government agency behind the Lucas Heights reactor — were digging through 30-year-old files for information. [...]

Workers sick amid highway radiation scare
Source: ABC Australia
Date: Apr 17, 2012

John Mackay, a doctor who treated police who became ill at the crash site in 1980, says he is convinced they suffered radiation poisoning.

Dr Mackay says the officers handled radioactive mater that was onboard the truck.

“The police were instructed by Lucas Heights to approach the radioactive containers, of which there were several, but in particular the caesium-137 containers and put their arms inside of it to check if the inside radioisotope had been broken,” he said.

“Within seconds or minutes the men felt intensely sick.”

Road upgrade project manager Bob Higgins

“As we’ve taken down the cutting, there we exposed the face of the existing material [and] came across a clay material that, when it’s exposed to air, gets an orange streak through it”
“There were a number of workers that felt a little bit of nausea and there was a bit of vomiting when they were in close proximity”

V

[MonsieurM]

Edano: All reactors temporarily offline in May
Source: AJW by The Asahi Shimbun
Date: April 16, 2012

Industry minister Yukio Edano said April 15 that all nuclear reactors in Japan will be offline temporarily from May 6 [...]

The central government has been trying to restart the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at the Oi nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture, but it has met local opposition. [...]

It was the first time for the government to acknowledge that all nuclear reactors will be shut down in Japan. Japan has always had at least one reactor online since the years immediately after the nation’s first commercial reactor started operations in 1966. [...]

V

good news and thank you blackchisel97 for the update .... but i'll keep an eye on the sun on may 6th or any other astral alignement ... not sure but you never know ... all truth is but half truth




btw: a nice principle of correspondence: Japan to burn radioactive debris

Keiser Report: Meets Schiff Report 4.0 (E276) - YouTube

[blackchisel97]

"We falsified data"

Former Fukushima Daiichi Reactor Operator: We falsified data and rewrote daily operative reports (VIDEO)

Interview with Toshio Kimura
Translated by: Goldieluvmj
Date Published: Apr 13, 2012

At 0:48 in

NARRATOR: Kimura used to operate the reactors and maintained the fuel rods at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. He confessed that TEPCO has deceived the government, which regulates the nuclear power plants, in a number of ways.

KIMURA: As a part of operational management of the nuclear power plant, we used to rewrite the daily operative reports. We used to access the computer to falsify the data when things weren’t going our way.

See English subtitles by clicking CC button in YouTube toolbar.

My thought on restarting the nuclear reactors - YouTube

Fukushima Report Introduced by Top Official Hosono: “Other reactors are all in considerably severe condition” — 14 total; Dai-ni, Onagawa, Tokai — “Extreme situations, though not much has been broadcast”

Lessons Learned From Fukushima Dai-ichi (1. Press Conference. 2011. 10. 28)
Author: Kenichi Ohmae, Nuclear engineer
Date Uploaded: Mar 21, 2012
Uploaded by: by H2OProjectBBT

As a nuclear core designer and someone who earned a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in nuclear engineering, I volunteered to look into the situation at Fukushima No. 1 in June of 2011. Mr. Goushi Hosono, minister of nuclear power and environment, personally gave me access to the information and personnel who were directly involved in the containment operations of the postdisaster nuclear plants. After three months of investigation, I analyzed and wrote a long report detailing minute by minute how the nuclear reactors were actually disabled -Japan Times

At 11:20 in

Kenichi Ohmae, Nuclear Engineer: This is sheet two. This chart shows equipment loss of all the nuclear reactors such as power supply of AC/DC.

Therefore, there may be many people with the impression that Fukushima Dai-ichi reactor 1 to 4 are in the most severe difficulties, but actually, other reactors are all in considerably severe condition with the external power, or emergency power devices.

The red marked devices are broken.

Regardless of such extreme situations, though not much has been broadcast, as you will find in the sheet, in all reactors except for one, two, three, and four of Fukushima Dai-ichi, cold shutdown occurred well until the end.[...]

Special thanks to: Ms Jewel Naruse Ms Seiko Toyama Mr. Curtis Hoffmann Ms Keiko Sato

Lessons Learned From Fukushima Dai-ichi (1. Press Conference. 2011. 10. 28) - YouTube

V

[blackchisel97]

Fire at California’s San Onofre nuclear plant

SAN ONOFRE: Nuke plant tube inspections complete
Source: North County Times
Date: Apr 20, 2012

[...] Meanwhile, a fire in Unit 2′s electrical panel on the non-radiological side broke out Friday, but it was extinguished in less than an hour. No injuries were reported.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The fire started at 12:34 p.m. Friday in an electrical panel in an area where non-radioactive steam pushes the turbine that generates electricity and burned until the plant’s fire crew put it out at 1:14 p.m., said David Song, a utility spokesman.

Edison spokeswoman Jennifer Manfre said the fire was “controlled easily.”

The utility reported an “unusual event” to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission at 12:49 p.m. and ended the event at 1:41 p.m.

Title: Small electrical fire reported at San Onofre
Source: The Orange County Register
Author: PAT BRENNAN
Date: Apr 20, 2012

A small fire broke out in an electrical panel Friday at the San Onofre nuclear plant, but the fire was put out quickly and did not involve nuclear material, plant operators said.

Both of San Onofre’s reactors remain shut down as the operator, Southern California Edison, continues to probe troubled steam generator tubes that have shown signs of premature wear; the cause is so far unknown. [...]

Actually ‘probe’ is complete… just not released to public

Title: SAN ONOFRE: Nuke plant tube inspections complete
Source: North County Times
Date: Apr 20, 2012

Inspections of faulty tubes that caused the shutdown of two reactors at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station have been completed, but findings are not yet being released, Southern California Edison said Friday.

the truth is always hiding there in plain sight: "unexplained" - "unknown"
In other words: "No clue" - "uncontrolled"

V