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.

Japan Resumes Pumping Radioactive Water Into Nearby Sea

Alright so they just keep cycling water in and out of the nuclear reactors, each time the water is progressively millions of times more contaminated than the next. coupled with the fact that there are obviously cracks in the containment pits that have been leaking radioactive water into the environment the whole time, this makes Chernobyl Peanuts.
And what the hell do they think this is going to do to the Ocean?

VOA
Nuclear technicians have resumed pumping radioactive water from Japan's crippled nuclear plant into the nearby ocean, where radioactivity levels several million times the allowable limit are now being reported.

Officials with the Tokyo Electric Power Company said 2,800 tons of radioactive water had been pumped into the sea from a temporary storage facitily by 9 a.m. Tuesday. The company plans to empty 10,000 tons of water from the tank to make room for water that is much more highly contaminated and preventing repair work at the plant.

Another 1,500 tons is being pumped from two nearby buildings.

Japan's NHK Television meanwhile reported that radioactive iodine levels were measured Saturday in the sea near the Fukushima plant's Number 2 reactor at levels more than 7 milliion times the legal limit. Another measurement on Monday morning found levels at 5 million times the legal limit.

Both measurements were taken before the deliberate pumping began. The intense contamination is believed to be coming from a maintenance pit next to the number two reactor, which has filled with water after weeks of efforts to keep nuclear fuel rods in the plant's six units from overheating. Repeated efforts to seal the leak have failed.

Japan nuclear...'maximum alert'

Son of a Bitch!
Can it get worse? probably, it is beyond the point of believing what is being said.
how can all the radiation being detected everywhere, be safe?
Leaking radioactive water, Plutonium in the soil, radiation being detected from Japan to Boston(Yes the U.S).
I guess we are supposed to just move along like good little sheeple, nothing to see, its no problem, radiation is good for you.



BBC
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has said his government is in a state of maximum alert over the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

Plutonium has been detected in soil at the facility and highly radioactive water has leaked from a reactor building.

Officials say the priority remains injecting water to cool the fuel rods.

Mr Kan told parliament the situation at the quake-hit plant "continues to be unpredictable".

The government "will tackle the problem while in a state of maximum alert", he said, adding that he was seeking advice on whether to extend the evacuation zone around the plant.

Workers evacuated as radiation soars

"High levels of caesium and other substances are being detected, which usually should not be found in reactor water. There is a high possibility that fuel rods are being damaged,"

Fukushima Is full FUBAR.

WTF, Do these super smart Nuclear Physicists think all the signs mean?
Like they did not know what high levels of radiation for days on end meant, it is obvious that there is a containment breach, THE VESSEL HAS CRACKED AND HAS BEEN LEAKING RADIOACTIVE WATER INTO THE ENVIRONMENT!

So hear we are, we now have the worst Nuclear Disaster since Chernobyl! How much Radiation is going to spew out of this mess; nobody knows.


BBC
Radioactivity in water at reactor 2 at the quake-damaged Fukushima nuclear plant has reached 10 million times the usual level, company officials say.

Workers trying to cool the reactor core to avoid a meltdown have been evacuated.

Earlier, Japan's nuclear agency said that levels of radioactive iodine in the sea near the plant had risen to 1,850 times the usual level.

The UN's nuclear agency has warned the crisis could go on for months.

It is believed the radiation at Fukushima is coming from one of the reactors, but a specific leak has not been identified.

Leaking water at reactor 2 has been measured at 1,000 millisieverts/hour - 10 million times higher than when the plant is operating normally.

"We are examining the cause of this, but no work is being done there because of the high level of radiation," said a spokesman for the plant's operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco).

"High levels of caesium and other substances are being detected, which usually should not be found in reactor water. There is a high possibility that fuel rods are being damaged," the spokesman added.

Japan nuclear plant: Radioactivity rises in sea nearby

Don't eat the fish around Japan!
This is gonna but a big hurt on the Sushi market!

BBC
Levels of radioactive iodine in the sea near the tsunami-stricken Fukushima nuclear plant are 1,250 times higher than the safety limit, officials say.

The readings were taken about 300m (984ft) offshore. It is feared the radiation could be seeping into groundwater from one of the reactors.

But the radiation will no longer be a risk after eight days, officials say.

There are areas of radioactive water in four of the reactors at the plant, and two workers are in hospital.

The plant's operator says the core of one of the six reactors may have been damaged.

It has announced that fresh water rather than seawater will now be used to cool the damaged reactors, in the hope that this will be more effective.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the situation was "very unpredictable"

Japan Raises Possibility of Breach in Reactor Vessel

So Some of the Japanese Nuclear guys, believe a Containment vessel has been breached, this is not good for anybody.
If the bottom has cracked (From the earthquake) that means that all the water they have been pumping into it has been leaking into the ground, this would devastate the area for decades; ground water, soil, everything will be contaminated.
If it's the top, then we have Radioactive steam spewing into the atmosphere!
Does it get ant better than this?

The New York Times
The development, described at a news conference by Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy director-general of the Japan Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, raises the possibility that radiation from the mox fuel in the reactor — a combination of uranium and plutonium — could be released.

One sign that a breach may have occurred in the reactor vessel, Mr. Nishiyama said, took place on Thursday when three workers who were trying to connect an electrical cable to a pump in a turbine building next to the reactor were injured when they stepped into water that was found to be significantly more radioactive than normal in a reactor. The No. 3 unit, the only one of the six reactors at the site that uses the mox fuel, was damaged by a hydrogen explosion on March 14. Workers have been seeking to keep it cool by spraying it with seawater along with a more recent effort to restart the reactor’s cooling system.

Crews Work to Restore Power at Japanese Nuclear Plant

Another day another attempt to restore power and cool the reactors.
What a mess, these guys have got to be exhausted.


VOA
Repair crews were back at work Tuesday seeking to restore cooling systems at Japan's quake-crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, a day after being evacuated as smoke rose from two of the plant's six reactors.

Officials said electrical power cables have been laid to all six reactors and that they hope to restore some functions at all the reactors within days. However it remains unclear how much damage has been done to the pumps used to keep the reactors' nuclear fuel rods from overheating, or how soon they can be repaired or replaced

Contaminated food found near nuclear plant

Don't worry people, the food is O.K. it just has a little bit of radiation in it!

The thing about this that bothers me is they keep saying Radiation really is not a problem, I hope the Japanese people are not gullible.


ABCNews
Japanese officials have found abnormal radiation levels in several food products in the area surrounding the troubled Fukushima nuclear power plant.

The discovery came as the country was rocked by another strong aftershock just as officials said they were making progress in their battle to contain the nuclear crisis and cool the power plant.

There have not been any reports of damage and no tsunami warning was issued following the 6.1 magnitude earthquake.

Milk and spinach in the affected region has been found to contain radiation levels high enough to breach food-safety laws.

But chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano says there is no immediate risk to humans.

"Even though you continue to consume these product for a year, a total radiation level that will be taken inside the body will be comparable to one run of CT scan," he said.

Japan Nuclear Crisis Deepens

Oh Boy!
What next? All four reactors at the Fukushima nuclear power facility are done, never to be used again.
At least two of them are in Meltdown mode (Probably already full meltdown)

The hope is that the Containment vessels will hold what is left of the molten nuclear fuel rods within their walls.

But even those may have been compromised from the amounts of Radiation being detected, 200 miles away!

VOA
The crisis at Japan's damaged nuclear power complex in the northeastern part of the country is worsening. Top government officials acknowledge further, significantly higher radiation leaks and explosions at a total of three reactors.

Tuesday morning, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan delivered a nationally broadcast message to citizens, after a third reactor building explosion was confirmed in Fukushima.

Urging the public to heed his words calmly, Kan acknowledged one of the damaged reactors is facing a much higher risk of releasing radiation into the atmosphere...


The top government spokesman said radiation detected at another damaged reactor, the Number Three unit, was at a level that could harm people.

The highest brief spike of radiation levels at the crippled Fukushima plant was equivalent to eight times the dose an average person would absorb in a year.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company announced that the cooling system had failed at the Number Two reactor of the Fukushima complex. The cooling equipment had been damaged by last Friday's magnitude nine earthquake and tsunami.

The utility says all workers from the Fukushima plant, except those involved in the emergency pumping of water to cool the reactors, have been ordered out of the facility...

The Kyodo news agency quotes an official at the company saying it is possible that some parts of the rods holding nuclear material have melted. If confirmed, that would be a new and more alarming worry for Japan.

Tokyo Electric says there are also big problems at the Number Four reactor, which had previously had its fuel rods removed but still contains spent fuel. A fire has been extinguished there from an apparent explosion of a fuel container, which damaged the reactor's ceiling. Radioactive steam has been released from that reactor.

Monday, Japan asked for assistance from the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Japanese domestic news reports says small levels of radioactive iodine and cesium have been detected in the Tokyo metropolitan area, about 250 kilometers to the southwest from here in Fukushima prefecture.

Second Explosion at Reactor as Technicians Try to Contain Damage

Son of a bitch, what a nuclear mess.
Reactor #3 now gone, Reactor #2 on it's way The core was partially exposed to the air.

The New York Times
TOKYO — A second explosion rocked a troubled nuclear power plant Monday, blowing the roof off a containment building but not harming the reactor inside, while cooling systems failed at a third reactor, Japanese officials said.

The explosion underscores the difficulties Japanese authorities are having in bringing several stricken reactors under control three days after a massive earthquake and a tsunami hit Japan’s northeast coast and shut down the electricity that runs the crucial cooling systems for reactors.

Operators fear that if they cannot establish control, despite increasingly desperate measures to do so, the reactors could experience meltdowns, which would release catastrophic amounts of radiation.

It was unclear if radiation was released by Monday’s explosion, but a similar explosion at another reactor at the plant over the weekend did release radioactive material.

Live footage on public broadcaster NHK showed the skeletal remains of the reactor building and thick smoke rising from the building. Eleven people had been injured in the blast, one seriously, officials said.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said that the release of large amounts of radiation was unlikely. But traces of radiation could be released into the atmosphere, and about 500 people who remained within a 12 mile radius have been ordered to take cover indoors, he said.

Japan battles partial nuclear meltdown

A Partial Meltdown at two reactors, not good but hopefully not as bad as it could be.
they have pumped sea water into the containment pits that hold the Nuclear fuel rods, this has destroyed the reactors forever, but it was apparently their only hope of cooling the cores down.


FT.com
Japanese nuclear experts are working to contain a partial meltdown at an earthquake-stricken nuclear power plant north of Tokyo, as fears grow that the death toll from Friday’s massive quake and tsunami could reach the tens of thousands.

Yukio Edano, Japan’s chief government spokesman, said there was a “significant chance” that radioactive fuel rods had partially melted in two reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility, 240km north of the capital.

However, Mr Edano said the radiation levels measured outside the plant, operated by Tokyo Electric Power, did not suggest a major health threat.

“I am trying to be careful with words ... This is not a situation where the whole core suffers a meltdown,” Mr Edano said.

A partial meltdown, experts said, would likely mean that some portion of the reactors’ uranium fuel rods had cracked or warped from overheating, releasing radioactive particles into the reactors’ containment vessels. Some of those particles would have escaped into the air outside when engineers vented steam from the vessels to relieve pressure building up inside.

Nuclear Meltdown ?

Holy shit, Watching this yesterday it appeared not to be good, as the day went on they kept upping the warning.
Though they are not saying a Meltdown has occured, uh it appears it has.

There was more left of the containment building at Chernobyl!




Bloomberg
An explosion occurred at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi power station north of Tokyo, destroying the walls of the No. 1 reactor building, NHK Television said. The report came after the government said a reactor may be melting.

Smoke was rising around the nuclear reactor after an aftershock from yesterday’s quake struck, Ryohei Shiomi, a spokesman at the country’s nuclear safety agency said by phone.

The spokesman said several people were injured during an aftershock that struck around 3:30 p.m. Japan time, adding he had no further information. Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the plant, said it had no information, when contacted by Bloomberg News.

Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said earlier that a nuclear reactor in the Fukushima Dai-Ichi power station, about 220 kilometers (140 miles) north of Tokyo, may be starting to melt down after Japan’s biggest earthquake on record hit the area yesterday.

Fuel rods at the No. 1 reactor at the plant run by Tokyo Electric Power Co. may be melting after radioactive Cesium material left by atomic fission was detected near the site, Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, spokesman Yuji Kakizaki said by phone today.

“If the fuel rods are melting and this continues, a reactor meltdown is possible,” Kakizaki said. A meltdown refers to a heat buildup in the core of such an intensity it melts the floor of the reactor containment housing.

Japan Issues Emergency at Nuclear Plant

Not good, They are now telling residents to evacuate the area, and inspectors are suiting up in Radiation suits.
Apparently they can not get water into the core to cool it down!


The Wall Street Journal
TOKYO—The Japanese government issued an official emergency at one of the country's nuclear plants Friday after a massive earthquake automatically shut down its reactors and caused problems with its cooling system, but said there are currently no reports of radiation leakage.

"There are no reports of leakage from any nuclear power plants at the moment and no signs of any leakage," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Friday. As a result of the state of emergency, the government will set up a special emergency task force to deal with the situation.

At Tokyo Electric Power's Fukushima Daiichi plant, three reactors shut down automatically as designed after a magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck off the northeast of Japan on Friday afternoon. The quake also caused diesel-powered generators used to cool the reactors to stop operating, leaving the utility company with a shortage of coolant to bring the reactors to a safe temperature.

Quake, Tsunami Hit Japan Causing ‘Major’ Damage

Holy crap!
Watching the incoming video and what a mess, parts of Japan are just being devistated.

Reports are that all U.S. Military are safe, others not so good , 32 Dead right now and that will definitely rise throughout the day.

Hawaii and the west coast next.

Bloomberg
Japan was struck by its strongest earthquake in at least a century, an 8.9-magnitude temblor that shook buildings across Tokyo and unleashed a tsunami as high as 10 meters, engulfing towns along the northern coast.

At least 26 people were killed by the 33-foot wave and many are missing, according to state broadcaster NHK Television, which showed footage of waves sweeping away buildings and vehicles as far as 1.5 kilometers inland. Airports were closed and bullet train services suspended. More than 4 million homes are without power, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said.

“Major damage occurred in the Tohoku area” north of Tokyo, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said in a nationally televised address after convening an emergency response team. “I call on citizens to act calmly. Especially those who are near a beach, please evacuate to higher ground to avoid the tsunami.”

China Quake Survivors Face Intimidation, Detention

China never ceases to amaze me , they are so hell bent on controlling their people that the parents who lost their children in an Earthquake , can't even grieve their loss without facing "Detention " .
Epoch times
BEIJING—Survivors of China's devastating earthquake last year face detention and harassment if they protest over collapsed schools, corruption claims and other grievances, Amnesty International said.

While Beijing is pouring billions of dollars into rebuilding towns in southwestern Sichuan province flattened by the May 12 quake, the government also has waged a less public campaign against citizens who blame more than natural destruction for the many schools that collapsed, killing thousands of children, the human rights advocacy group said.

"By unlawfully locking up parents of children who died, the government is creating more misery for people who have said in some cases they lost everything in the Sichuan earthquake," said Roseann Rife of Amnesty in a statement emailed with the report released on Monday.

On the weekend, several grieving parents of Juyuan, where a high school building toppled in the quake, told Reuters their plans to mourn their dead children were stopped by police.

"The police and town officials told us that we should not make such a fuss," said one of the parents, Yang Rengui, whose son died in the school. "Now many parents dare not speak."