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TEPCO says 100 tons of tainted water leaked at Fukushima

46 Comments
By Kyoko Hasegawa

A new leak of 100 tons of highly radioactive water has been discovered at Fukushima, the plant's operator said Thursday, after it revealed only one of nine thermometers in a crippled reactor was still working.

The toxic water is no longer escaping from a storage tank on the site, said a spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), adding it was likely contained, but the news is a further blow to the company's already-battered reputation for safety.

"As there is no drainage way near the leak, which is in any case far from the ocean, it is unlikely that the water has made its way into the sea," he said.

The tank, one of hundreds at the site that are used to store water contaminated during the process of cooling broken reactors, sits around 700 meters from the shore.

The water it contains is highly radioactive, with a beta radiation reading "at 230 million becquerel per liter," he said.

That contamination level compares with government limits of 100 becquerels per kilogram in food and 10 becquerels per liter in drinking water. A becquerel is a unit of radioactivity.

Beta radiation, including from cancer-causing strontium-90, is potentially very harmful to humans and can cause damage to DNA. But it is relatively easy to guard against and cannot penetrate a thin sheet of aluminium.

"We are now in the process of recovering the leaked water and the earth it has contaminated," the spokesman added.

The tank holds water filtered to remove cesium but which still contains strontium, a substance that accumulates in bones and can cause cancer if consumed.

About half of the beta radiation from the latest leak is thought to be strontium-90, TEPCO said, meaning its concentration level is nearly four million times the legal limit of 30 becquerels per liter.

© (c) 2014 AFP

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46 Comments
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Still no one in jail, no fines, posts record profits and these boobs are still in charge... doesn't compute :(

18 ( +21 / -3 )

Fast track the opening of the other plants. We really, really promise it won't happen again.

6 ( +9 / -3 )

"In addition, the gov't needs to form a new agency for dealing with the nuclear disaster site, the decontamination and the construction of the storage depot for nuclear waste. Its in the interests of the country to remove TEPCO which should also be banned from operating any nuclear plant again, and in fact, the company should be sold off to recoup some of the ¥10 trillion of public money it has received to date."

I wish I knew how to give this 100 thumbs up.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Here we go again! No thanks stupid Tepco!!

5 ( +7 / -2 )

And for $50 which Japanese politician stood up in front of the IOC and said "it is all under control"?

I suppose the big question is for how long can this go on? Sooner or later the national government is going to have to either man up and take control away from TEPCO, or admit defeat and allow the grown-ups to come in and manage the cleanup (the IAEA).

5 ( +7 / -2 )

“As there is no drainage way near the leak, which is in any case far from the ocean, it is unlikely that the water has made its way into the sea,” he said.

100 tons of water is about 100,000 liters, which is a rather large amount to have simply vanished. Do they really have no idea where it went? Is it trapped in catchment facilities, or was it absorbed by the earth? If the latter, it will eventually reach the ocean; that, or it will merge with aquifers. Don't know which is worse.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

According to NHK, (who if anything would seek to minimize the safety concern involved) the levels of radiation in that 200,000 lbs. of water leaked into the surrounding area averaged 8 MILLION times higher than the levels the government currently considers acceptable to dump into the sea. So to say it's a bit of a problem...is a bit of an understatement, don'cha think?!

But by all means, let's push on with "fast-tracking" other nuclear power plants back into commission, right? After all, which is really more important~the present and future safety of the nation, or the personal political reputation of its smugly overconfident prime minister?

4 ( +5 / -1 )

I read in the dictionary under the words corrupt, payoff, criminal, lie, government and worthless. The defination of all of those words were 'See TEPCO for proof of and a picture of those reactors and the board of TEPCO's corporation.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

it is unlikely that the water

It is unlikely you have any idea wtf you are doing TEPCO

2 ( +3 / -1 )

At this point, can anything being represented by TEPCO be believed?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

It's amazing how an incompetent company like TEPCO who could't even look after the nuclear reactors in the first place are deemed competent enough to make it safe. Looks like the level of corruption between TEPCO and the ruling classes is as deep as the government debt.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Try to discharge you car oil in the street when you do your regular quarter maintenance. You will go straight to jail. What TEPCO is doing is one tera times worse than that and …they make profit…!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

555 might not be large?, but you have to remember it is highly toxic, and if they can loose that amount of toxic water with no idea where it went...well it's no wonder they are unable to compensate their victims as the probably have lost that 101010 stack of claims

1 ( +6 / -5 )

“As there is no drainage way near the leak, which is in any case far from the ocean, it is unlikely that the water has made its way into the sea,” he said.

Oh, really? So, where do you suppose it went? Water runs downhill, just the same as the shit TEPCO keeps spouting!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I'm sure they were in no hurry to release this information, either. For all we know, this could have happened at any time over the past few months. Absolutely despicable that this farcical company can post record profits, yet not one charge has been laid on the negligent idiots that run the place!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

How Abe can tell the IOC everything is under control is beyond me. What a liar. And TEPCO needs to be sold off with some higher ups going to jail. But, I suppose they'll just keep being rewarded.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

But it is relatively easy to guard against and cannot penetrate a thin sheet of aluminium.

Now where can I get me a nice suit of armour made of thin sheets of aluminium ?

TEPCO, this joke has already gone far too far... pass "home" and go straight to prison... and STAY there !

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Get ready for the usual "seken wo sawagaraseta, moushiwake nai", followed by bow, then back to work on the next similar scandal.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

after it revealed only one of nine thermometers in a crippled reactor was still working.

If someone wrote this kind of stuff in a fiction bookabout a nuclear disaster, everyone would laugh at it because it is too unbelievable. But, sadly for Japan, it is true.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Does anybody believe that it was "only" 100 tons? TEPCO has no cred left, unless you're a politician. The government seems to believe any BS that TEPCO says.

their belief of free and safe energy they need to feed their egocentric lifestyle.

OK, we understand you don't like Japan. But how does this post rate as anything other than a rant?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

OK, just one question: Why would anyone get away with call this a "leak"? That infers water getting out without you knowing. Simply, they chose to release it or they chose to ignore it. Both are criminal actions. What doe it take to put someone in jail?

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Good to know that they are handling things, some bows from the management and everything will be okay, don't worry about the glowing sushi in the sea.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Responsibilities have to be assessed, negligence has to be proven and consequences need to follow.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Hongo - you forgot option 3: Pretend everything is OK and declare inconvenient news such as this a state secret. Keep taking the brown envelopes and getting the other generators back online. Profits beat morality every time in this neck of the woods.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

100 tones is 100,000 liters of water

http://www.thecalculatorsite.com/conversions/common/liters-to-metric-tons.php

0 ( +3 / -3 )

@HaraldBloodaxe

I didn't forget No. 3, I just know how to keep a secret :)

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Only one of nine thermometers in a crippled reactor was still working.....And....

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Well, who knows if it just contaminates the groundwater in Fukushima. I noticed they dont check for SR90 btw http://atmc.jp/water/

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Everything is under control said Shinzo Abe. Wonder if he and the imperial family are really eating Fukushima rice and drinking Fukushima water.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

i am just shaking my head, theses radiation numbers are nightmare size.........

The water it contains is highly radioactive, with a beta radiation reading “at 230 million becquerel per liter,” he said.

Beta radiation, including from cancer-causing strontium-90, is potentially very harmful to humans and can cause damage to DNA. But it is relatively easy to guard against and cannot penetrate a thin sheet of aluminium.

see chart http://www.nucleartourist.com/systems/rad.htm

About half of the beta radiation from the latest leak is thought to be strontium-90, TEPCO said, meaning its concentration level is nearly four million times the legal limit of 30 becquerels per liter

0 ( +1 / -1 )

It feels like every month there is a report of a new leak. In searching TEPCO+water+leaks, I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of leaks that have already occurred at Daiichi and posted links to a few and was thinking that if TEPCO can build a freeze wall why not a 5 meter thick cement wall to keep the contaminates from leaking into the sea. Mind you the so called decontamination process f the "tainted water" only removes cesium while leaving the other harmful contaminates in the water.

In reading a past article on JT I learned froom a poster that Daiichi was built on top of a water table that ultimately feeds into the Tokyo water supply.

TEPCO says up to 500 tons of groundwater flowing into Fukushima nuclear plantNational Sep. 21, 2011

Disillusioned Sep. 21, 2011 - 10:54AM JST

This was documented by foreign sources within the first two weeks of the disaster. It has taken TEPCO over six months to release the info? There is a large water table under the dai-ichi plant and the earth cracked in the quake and subsequent explosions. The thing is, if the water can get in it can also get out! Oh, and did I mention that water table feeds into Tokyo's water supply? TEPCO and the J-Gov sure as heck won't mention it

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/tepco-says-up-to-500-tons-of-groundwater-flowing-into-fukushima-nuclear-plant

Gov't says Fukushima plant leaking 300 tons of toxic water into sea daily National Aug. 07, 2013 article expired

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/abe-orders-govt-to-help-contain-toxic-water-at-fukushima-plant

TEPCO says 300 tons of contaminated water leaking from Fukushima tank

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/tepco-says-300-tons-of-contaminated-water-leaked-from-tank

TEPCO reveals new contaminated water leak at Fukushima plant National Dec. 05, 2011

TOKYO —Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said Sunday that at least 45 tons of radioactive water have leaked from a desalination facility at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, and some of it may have reached the Pacific Ocean.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/tepco-reveals-new-contaminated-water-leak-at-fukushima-plant

1,130 tons of tainted water dumped in sea after typhoon National Sep. 18, 2013 article expired

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/1130-tons-of-tainted-fukushima-water-dumped-in-sea-after-typhoon

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Wait I just read some crazy stuff, I need corroboration or something. Did anybody know abut this

According to whistleblowers in the U.S. non-proliferation agency, highly reactive uranium from dismantled U.S. warheads stored in the Fukushima spent-fuel pools readily ignited after the quake knocked out the water pumps. A transport casket of elongated shape resembling a missile was sky-hooked out of a pool by helicopter soon after the tsunami, but the remainder of the weapons-grade stock was too heavy to remove. The series of detonations prevented repair crews from accessing controls of the reactor cores, which eventually melted through the containment chambers and into the subsurface soil.

When the quake and tsunami hit on March 11, only three reactors out of a total six at Fukushima were scheduled to produce electricity yet in actuality five were operational. Since then plant workers disclosed that the supposedly empty Reactor 4 had been refitted with a new steel shroud in secret by GE and that it was fully loaded with new fuel rods. The two extra reactors were running clandestine operations, the likeliest purpose being the enrichment of uranium prior to extraction. By no coincidence, Hitachi Electric and Honeywell are partners in developing a laser-plasma system to extract highly pure plutonium and uranium

http://newamericamedia.org/2012/03/the-world-is-powerless-against-fukushima-fallout.php

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@Pandabelle.... because facts tend to get in the way of the wild rantings of most posters here........

0 ( +2 / -2 )

At this point does it really matter anymore?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Oh, thank god. I haven't seen a radioactive water leak story in a while. I was worried - ok, don't laugh - but I was worried the problem might've been fixed! Ha! Can you imagine?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

All I can say is this, the government is no telling the truth and if I was ANYWHERE in Japan I would leave the place is not safe!! In the future you will hear and read about high cancer rates and birth defects among children! Its in the air, regardless of where you are you are affected!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Just another day in Japan..

When is the international community going to start demanding answers and some decent plan to get this sorted out? Clearly duct tape, day laborers, yaks and TEPCO are in over their head.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

FunnyNews

"TEPCo says" hahahaha

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

So, it seems the ghost of Hoodini has been visiting Fukushimaa nod magically whisked away a hundred tons of contaminated water. So, where do you think the water went? Water runs downhill, just the same as the poop TEPCO keeps spouting.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Why the heck did people thumb down my comment about the volume of water? 100 tons = approx 100,000 L = 4.6 m3. That's smaller than a 5x5x5m cube.

It's just a fact, folks.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

100 tons of water is about 100,000 liters, which is a rather large amount to have simply vanished.

100,000 liters isn't that big of a volume - it's less than a 5x5x5m cube.

-5 ( +5 / -10 )

100 tons here, 100 tons there....but in reality, what is to be done. It's so easy to criticize but much harder to actually do something. They may could be more open but the problem is much more complex than the cynical poster is what to acknowledge.

-7 ( +3 / -10 )

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