Second radioactive leak found at Japan’s Fukushima plant
Al Jazeera: Radioactive water may have leaked into the ground from a storage tank at Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in the latest of a series of troubles at the facility.
The fresh leak on Sunday comes a day after Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said up to 120 tonnes of contaminated water may have escaped from another of the seven underground reservoir tanks at the tsunami-damaged plant.
Photo: An aerial view shows Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s (TEPCO) tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture March 11, 2013. (REUTERS/Kyodo)
TEPCO has said that water contaminated with radiation was unlikely to reach the sea, thankfully — though, we suppose, that’s only if you place trust in TEPCO’s expectations.
See the red spots? You know, the ones surrounded by blue and green? Those represent 10 sieverts per hour of radiation. That is extremely high and could lead to death within seconds. And at the Fukushima site, that’s what they’re apparently still dealing with … mind you, five months after the fact. “Radiation leakage at the plant may have been contained or slowed but it has not been sealed off completely,” noted Osaka University professor and nuclear engineering expert Kenji Sumita. ”The utility is likely to continue finding these spots of high radiation.” To put this in perspective, add three zeros to the number 10, to make it 10,000 millisieverts per hour (mSv). Then, take a look at this graphic. Yeah. Scary as hell, right? We’ll say. source
We’re at a point where merely opening a door can cause a radiation leak of some kind. That’s what plant operators had to deal with today, as they opened the doors to Fukushima’s No. 2 plant to cool things off and let some air inside. They hope to install a cooling system to prevent an explosion in the plant. Meanwhile, they hope to restart the cleanup process quickly, which was recently stalled. To give you an idea of what they need to clean up, let’s put it this way: 110,000 tons of highly-radioactive water, enough to fill 40 Olympic-sized swimming pools which absolutely nobody should swim in. Officials fear that things could get really bad — think water overflowing all over the place — if they don’t act soon to deal with the water. source
TEPCO head to step down: Masataka Shimizu’s resignation is symbolic in the same way Tony Hayward’s resignation was last year.
TEPCO has released several photos of the catastrophic tsunami of March 11th, as it struck the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant. They are perhaps somewhat instructive, as they highlight the intense level of natural abuse the plant took that led to this ongoing crisis. source
Things were so dangerous after a blast at Fukushima Daiichi reactor No. 1 that workers didn’t enter the building at all afterwards. Until today. Nearly two months after the hydrogen explosion that greatly damaged the plant on March 11th, NHK reports that workers re-entered the building housing the reactor for the first time since the initial blast. The workers plan to install an air purifier in the plant, reportedly ”aimed at preventing workers from suffering internal radiation exposure when they work on setting up a new cooling system at the No. 1 reactor.” That must be a really good air purifier. (Above: A pic of a robot working in the plant, via TEPCO) source
What’s it look like inside Fukushima Daiichi? Well, at least some of it looks like this, This footage from TEPCO shows a couple of robots that are working in one reactor — even though it’s not especially illuminating from an information standpoint, it’s yet very haunting footage. source
I’m moving back to New York in a few days. Unlike past...
OMG. I got so...
In this week’s Newsweek, a little...
Tumblr this morning. [h/t anne]
#@#$%!.tumblr.com
Here’s a hidden feature that shipped in...
Watch: PCB gets a visual shout out on GMA’s Yahoo/Tumblr...
Extensive damage can be seen at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in this new video filmed from a helicopter. (TEPCO)
Whoa. That’s really bad.
The worst-case scenario doesn’t bear mentioning and the best-case scenario keeps getting worse.Perpetual Investments, on the unfolding nuclear crisis in Japan. (via producermatthew)
All the workers there have suspended their operations. We have urged them to evacuate, and they have.Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Yukio Edano • On the 50 workers who had been fighting the fires and working as a last line of defense at the plant. Apparently the radiation levels got too high and rose rapidly. Hopefully we can find the levels soon. source
Copyright 2009-2013 Ernie Smith • Ask us stuff! • E-mail us • Follow us on Twitter • Follow us on Facebook
