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More radioactive water leaks found at Fukushima nuclear plant

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And the Japanese government announced that the plant had reached a cold shutdown condition, and is now essentially stable.

Is this what the Japanese government calls a cold shutdown!!

Workers spotted a leak Friday at a water reprocessing unit which released enough beta rays to cause radiation sickness.

And not only that!!

Matsumoto said TEPCO also found that 8.5 tons of radioactive water had leaked earlier in the week after a pipe became detached at No. 4 reactor, one of six at the plant.

When will the Japanese government wake up and realize that there is a serious problem here!!

They need to stop playing games with this thing and stop putting peoples lives in danger for the sake of saving their own investment!!

How many people have to get sick and die before the Japanese government wakes up!!

Don`t they know that what they are doing is like a terrorist action against their own people!!

Heck, they are so worried about North Korea processing nuclear weapons when they themselves (The Japanese government) is in the process of blowing themselves up!!

The Japanese Government needs to wake up!!

12 ( +14 / -2 )

The plant is BASICALLY stable.

The plant is ESSENTIALLY stable.

So is the plant stable?

No.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

'Basically stable' measured against which circumstances? Problems with pipes and leaks the last week due to cold weather, the same weather conditions we have every year. I mean, if The Ice Age had suddenly made an appearance, I'd cut them some slack but this....

Let's not even bring up the ongoing shaking situation up there and the possibility of another big aftershock or earthquake. I have this image of another big shaky shaky and all the 'pipes' literally just falling out all and over and Dai Ichi looking something like a giant sprinkler.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

This plant is as stable as the Japanese goverment and the prime ministers office.

So when the prime minister says the plant is stable this is what he referred to.

9 ( +9 / -0 )

Sorry, but I don't remember hearing 'basically' when the government declared successful shut down and said the plant was STABLE. Now, as everyone has predicted, they're backtracking on their blunt statements and simply watering them down. Now beta rays are being released -- but oh! they've set up a few sandbags to prevent any leaks from reaching the ocean.... until tomorrow when we read about how they've noticed several tonnes of radioactive water have reached the ocean (but it poses no risk to human health!!).

Still think people should go home to the nearby villages?

7 ( +7 / -0 )

A Whistle-blower “Reactor 4 is inverse pyramid, very unstable and dangerous.” A Japanese journalist (a former secretary of Japanese prime minister) tweeted about reactor 4.

Tonight, (1/31/2012), a diet lawmaker asked me to get in take a contact with a Tepco manager who whistle-blew about the situation of the SFP of reactor 4. He is from an engineering department. I took contact with the whistle-blower immediately. More people are concerned about the situation of reactor 4.

A Tepco manager from engineering department showed this map of the fifth top floor of reactor 4. This is confidential. When 311 happened, it was in periodic checkup, large cranes or other heavy facilities were gathered at the reactor it was too much. The weight constitution is inverse pyramid, very unstable and dangerous.

http://fukushima-diary.com/2012/02/whistle-blower-of-tepco-the-weight-constitution-is-inverse-pyramid-very-unstable-and-dangerous/

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Of course. There has been no fines, no outcry... why not announce to the public there has been a leak and "test the waters". No problem? Okay, let's let a little more out and see what happens... Nothing. It gets reported but "shoganai". What this company is doing is criminal. What this government is doing is criminal. Good thing the public here is so complacent they just sit here like lame ducks and allow it to happen. Pathetic. Just pathetic. Though sadly, none of this is surprising.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Smith, if the people are dumb enough to listen to the government and go home, so be it. I care about MY food, my water, my family... If they can't be bothered to do a little critical thinking and follow like sheep, shoganai. And the way this government is going, I doubt they'll be using tax money to help these people pay for their cancer bills in a couple of years. Win/win?? Yes, it is horrible to write that but let's be honest, it is the truth. If people don't bother to think for themselves and believe everything this pathetic government (and that includes them ALL regardless of party) well then... so be it.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Pump the leaking water back in.

I would like to see them drill a well for water and keep checking it at various levels. I think it would be helpful.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

I told ya so. It's always worse than the report. Water always finds a way in and out.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

....which released enough beta rays to cause radiation sickness, TEPCO spokesman Junichi Matsumoto said. He said no one was injured and the leak stopped after bolts were tightened on a tank.

So someone suffered radiation sickness? But no one was injured? Splitting hairs to aid their mendacity, methinks.

Yet more double-speak, following on from a few weeks ago where the endoscope showed "no serious damage" but all the water missing!

3 ( +3 / -0 )

The article didn't say that anyone actually received that high dose. It just says that the leaked water contained enough radioactive materials to cause a sufficiently high dose to people around.

Nevertheless, these news clearly show how much the JGov and TEPCO have screwed up. They should have never been allowed to call it cold shutdown condition, because it implies a wrong sentiment of stability. And the plant is still years away from being stable. All these calls to the locals to return to their villages that are supposed to be "safe again" are revealed to be either outright lies or blunt stupidity. Not enough from a leader in trying times...

I'd suggest a cold shutdown of the responsible plant manager and the JGov if there was anything better available in Japan...

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Nightmare that continues, time for plan J assuming A to I have been used or disregarded, the fragility of the situation combined with the obvious (see last 11 months) lack of foresight and integrity both in workmanship and in information release. It is criminal it has and does pose a current and future hazard for Japan and all it's people, food chain compromised, environment and development of the young and unborn.

Things were not good before this event, now the spiral downwards has been ramped up...

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Actually, nothing new here. Many contributors to the JT site have already said in the past that such news wouldn't surprise them. Guess things won't really get under control until the destroyed buildings are removed completely.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

"He said officials are investigating the cause of that leak, but that it was unlikely the pipe had been loosened by the many aftershocks that have hit the plant."

So what is the likely cause of the leak? Evil goblins that go around loosening the works when nobody's looking?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

So ... everyone still thinks Tepco are the best ones to be running this? I

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Wow.......I work in (non-nuclear) cooling water systems and the pipes & pumps which transport the water...

Usually pumped at (or above) 400 kPa.....leaks are like water jets.....not dribbles.

Pipes do NOT just magically 'come apart'......bolts do not 'just loosen themselves'.

It is NOT the result of freezing conditions....the 'coolant' water in the pipes is 25 - 85 degrees C and warms the surrounding pipes.....if not, you wouldn't NEED "Cooling" ( = Cold Shutdown??)

I have blamed extremely poor Management and Government oversight until now. I now realise that the 'heroes' working in the plant are peanuts too!

Ofcourse, the outright LYING is possibly the worst crime of all.....

Very Sad Again (Ongoing??)

2 ( +2 / -0 )

More radiation in the environment!

Already the areas around the plant are becoming bereft of wildlife.

Birdlife and even insects (much hardier than mammals) are being decimated and mutated

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/bird-numbers-plummet-around-stricken-fukushima-plant-6348724.html

Parts of Tokyo,Chiba,Saitama have recorded radiation levels at the same level as the plant in Fukushima whilst incineration of the waste is being conducted in Tokyo.

I would question if a mass sterilization and/or extinction of the Japanese people is not going to occur?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Tokyo Electric=BS, so when Tokyo Electric gives us more BS, what do we get?? More and more BS! Baloney! Lies! Stable?? Sure! Stable like Iraq??

1 ( +1 / -0 )

My guess is the IAEA should be on the ground there in Fukushima and just tell those fools at Tokyo Electric to go out and fix electrical wires etc...and let the real experts handle this.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

It was a total fabrication and arguably criminally negligent to declare Dai-Ichi stable, a load of untruth. The international stage sees it as the govt have told it and that is a bare-faced deception. Appalling lies and deceit. The Japanese must be more forthcoming with the reality, it is not in cold shutdown, it is not stable, it can go anywhere at the slightest of dynamic change.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

*I now realise that the 'heroes' working in the plant are peanuts too!***

You mean those day labourers who have zero training? I can't blame them for making money and messing it up. They have zero idea what they are doing. I imagine a bunch of guys in those plastic slippers, mask on trying to duct tape everything together. From the sounds of it all, I'm not all that far off.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The government announced in December that the plant had reached “a cold shutdown condition” and is now essentially stable.

By definition, cold shutdown means there are no radioactive leaks, so...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Sandbags, eh? What a wonderful high tech solution those are. Course if they happen to get used, the sand becomes radioactive, so what do you do with the sand?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I have been wondering for a quite a while why none of the countries have sued TEPCO/J-government for intentionally dumping contaminated water to the Pacific Ocean.

The Pacific Ocean is shared with U.S.A. and other countries.

Why doesn't USA sue TEPCO/J-government?

I have been asking this question here and there, but I have got only one answer so far.

"The contaminated water is not that contaminated. So they don't have to sue anybody."

Some posters here say, "IT'S CRIMINAL".

Can you explain how criminal they are with what charge?

And if you know anybody sued TEPCO/J-government, please post the links.

Thank you.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@MapleG: Why, sell it to a construction company of course!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It would be very hard to sue as then everyone would be suing everyone especially Russia and China with the radioactive leaks for decades. Russian has been leaking the stuff into the Sea of Japan openly saying they cannot afford to safely dispose of old nuclear weapons and nuclear submarines. I remember all the documentaries they made 2 decades ago about the sea being contaminated, but it all got swept under the rug. Same goes for the hundreds of atmospheric nuclear detonations done by the US, UK, France, Russia, etc over the years. It all adds up and we are breathing and eating the stuff everyday. That said Fukushima probably equals the total of all past atmospheric radioactive contaminants.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Anti freeze?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

zichi, cwhite,

Thank you very much for the information.

A total of 11,500 tons of contaminated water tainted with low levels of radiation (170 billion becquerels total) was dumped into the ocean last April to free up space for water with much higher levels of radioactivity. Under the reactor regulation law, contaminated water can be discharged as an "emergency measure."; in other words, not violation of law here.

TEPCO is not in violation of any international law (?) The 1972 Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter bans the dumping of pollution at sea. But the convention contains a loophole: it only covers the dumping of waste from vessels, aircraft and other man-made structures at sea. It does not cover land-based discharges, as occurred at Fukushima.

TEPCO has been considering dumping some treated water into the sea because it was running out of storage space. Tepco estimates the amount of treated water requiring storage is increasing by 200 to 500 tons every day. It says the plant is likely to reach its storage capacity of about 155,000 tons around March.

If TEPCO is not in violation of any law, I'm afraid they would dump the tainted water into the ocean.

@moderator, thank you very much for leaving my post here. I was afraid you might remove it because it is off topic, but it's not. It's all relevant, isn't it?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Cracking reactor 4, Tepco admitted they can not stop water leakage from reactor4, SFP, and pool for the reactor facility which are all connected to each other. They assert those facilities are all full but water decreases twice as fast as usual from the pool to accept water overflown. The leaking water is contaminated. It is assumed to flow into the basement floor of reactor4. Tepco analyzes it’s because pipes are frozen and damaged, had their employees find the leaking part.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

zichi

TEPCO this week sent a 60 man work crew, probably nuclear gypsies

Love the description here Zichi

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Matsumoto said TEPCO also found that 8.5 tons of radioactive water had leaked earlier in the week after a pipe became detached at No. 4 reactor, one of six at the plant. The company earlier had estimated that only a few liters had leaked

Nearly 11 months since the disaster and they still basically have no clue as to what is actually going on in the plant. But they still make pronouncements and assurances anyway. A "few liters" versus 8.5 tons is NOT in the acceptable error range anymore. But the incompetence continues unabated.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

zichi were you referring to these people?

A power plant construction and maintenance firm has falsified worker contracts for temporary labor at nuclear plants across Japan for years, according to statements by one of the company's employees charged with involvement in the fraudulent agreements.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20120204p2a00m0na016000c.html

2 ( +2 / -0 )

These people are called 原発ジプシー(gempatsu gypsy=nuclear gypsies)

(video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOD3QZtn070

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Skimmer surge tank level decreasing very rapidly at reactor 4, According to plant parameter data of Tepco, the water level of skimmer surge tank has been decreasing very rapidly since around 1/30/2012. It has been in the decreasing trend since the beginning of this year for some reason. It has been slowly decreasing, but it picked up on 1/20/2012. However again, it started falling off from 1/30/2012. Tepco asserts it’s because a part of the pool was damaged by frozen water. Whatever the reason is, there is a major damage to reactor 4.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

They can (and probably will) reuse this headline over and over. TEPCO is so incompetent, I'm beginning to think this isn't really news anymore, but part of 'normal' life here in Japan. Not that I'm complacent about it at all, just not surprised anymore. The one thing TEPCO can be counted on is that they can't be counted on for anything but to screw up.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Geeezz....this is becoming too annoying. Hey JG $ TEPCO which is which?. Stable, under control, cold shutdown, safe...... Just tell the truth AHs. There is no need to lie or hide the facts. People know the real truth anyway.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Blair Herron, And what about the thousands of tons of waste water which leaked into the ocean before TEPCO came up for a way to stop it. The waste water was coming from the basement of No1 reactor?

I have absolutely no idea what to do (><) Do you, zichi?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I get 3 thumbs down for requesting them to drill wells and check ground water?

WTF is wrong with some people on this thread? You do not want the water tested?

They should be drilling all over the place and testing the water tables. If you think I am wrong, then you have already been used. Bye

6 ( +5 / -0 )

I have been working in Japan for the last 8 months. I have just left, and will not return again. The nuclear/radiation concerns is the main reason.....

0 ( +0 / -0 )

SFP of reactor 2, 3 and reactor 5 are heated as well

http://fukushima-diary.com/2012/02/attention-reactor-2-is-still-being-heated/

http://fukushima-diary.com/2012/02/sfp-of-reactor-3-and-reactor-5-are-heated-as-well/

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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