Japan stricken nuke plant leaks radioactive water

Good thing I do not like Sea Food.

Washington post
Japan’s crippled nuclear power plant leaked about 45 tons of highly radioactive water from a purification device over the weekend, its operator said, and some may have drained into the ocean.

The leak is a reminder of the difficulties facing Tokyo Electric Power Co. as it tries to meet its goal of bringing the tsunami-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant to a cold shutdown by year’s end.

A pool of radioactive water was discovered midday Sunday around a decontamination device, TEPCO said in a statement on its website. After the equipment was turned off, the leak appeared to stop. Later, workers found a crack in a concrete barrier leaking the contaminated water into a gutter that leads to the ocean.

TEPCO estimated that about 300 liters leaked out before the crack was blocked with sandbags.

Officials were checking whether any water had reached the nearby ocean.

Radioactive isotope, maybe from Fukushima, detected, but ...

But... there is nothing to worry about, move along sheeple, the radioactive isotopes will not hurt you !

My Ass.

The Los Angeles Times
Very small amounts of a radioactive isotope of sulfur, believed to have traveled across the Pacific Ocean from the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, have been detected in La Jolla, Calif., by UC San Diego scientists.

But there's no need to worry: The amounts are nowhere near enough to cause health problems, researchers said.

Senior author Mark Thiemens and his team keep tabs on levels of sulfur-35 as part of their climate research. Readings collected shortly after the March 11 tsunami in Japan indicated that there were 1,500 atoms of sulfur-35 per square meter of air in La Jolla, a significant increase over normal levels.

The UCSD team interpreted the bump as the result of a reaction that would have occurred when plant workers used seawater to cool overheating reactors at Fukushima. Neutrons from the reactor core would have reacted with chlorine in ocean water to create radioactive sulfur, Thiemens said.

"The levels we observed are in no way harmful in California," Thiemens said.

Japan Plans Safety Tests of Nuclear Plants

Stress test time.
this could come up nothing but bad news for Japans Nuclear power plants.

Do they really know what the constant bombardment of earthquakes will do to a containment pit? Concrete can be fragile, stress cracks, shrinkage, crazing, all are constant problems with Concrete structures.

So with the help of Earthquakes, who knows what shape the reactors are in.


The New York Times
TOKYO — Japan will conduct new safety tests of its nuclear plants, the nation’s top energy official said on Wednesday, in a move aimed at persuading local communities to allow the restarting of idled nuclear reactors.

The official, Trade and Industry Minister Banri Kaieda, said the so-called stress tests will measure the plants’ ability to withstand larger-than-expected earthquakes and tsunamis, like those that disabled the Fukushima Daiichi plant in March.

He said the tests, which are modeled on those conducted by the European Union on its plants, are intended to give “a sense of assurance” to local residents.

Tepco confirms extra partial fuel rod meltdown at plant

"Based on our analysis, we have reached the conclusion that a certain amount of nuclear fuel has melted down,"

At least they finally admit to what everyone has already known.

Now what is the extent of these "Partial Meltdowns" that is the bigger question.

BBC
Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) has confirmed the meltdown of extra fuel rods in reactors at its damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant.

The company said that the rods were in its Number 2 and Number 3 reactors.

Tepco has been trying to contain radiation from the plant, crippled by the 11 March earthquake and tsunami.

The company said that it planned to stick to its timetable of getting the radiation under control by January.

Tepco's announcement came on the same day that a team from the United Nations' atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), kicked off a visit in Japan.