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TEPCO says up to 500 tons of groundwater flowing into Fukushima nuclear plant

35 Comments

Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said Tuesday that between 200 and 500 tons of groundwater a day are flowing through wall cracks into the reactor buildings of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

A TEPCO official told TBS that water inflow had increased after heavy rain. The official said the plant is currently decontaminating 1,000 tons of tainted water a day and that the increased amount of groundwater is manageable, TBS reported.

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I might be stupid, but if groundwater can flow into the reactor buildings, doesn't it mean that water (including contaminated water) can also escape from these buildings?

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Dear Piggy! I think you got a point there!

1 ( +1 / -1 )

I bet the cores are already in the ground water.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Does that make sense? I guess if the pressure from the ground water was higher than the pressure in the nuclear plant, it could happen. Still sounds odd to me.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

So when it rains it fills, when it is sunny the lovely people of Japan are treated with plutonium. Luckily another wall cracking earthquake would ever happen....

2 ( +2 / -1 )

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.

1 ( +3 / -3 )

Wouldnt it make it easier then to retrieve the melted core if it seeps through the buildings outside?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Don't worry Piglet , Tepco has everything under control as from the beginning..............:p

0 ( +0 / -0 )

When a utility can lie and withhold essential news about safety, with the cooperation of the government and its beholden press, who believes any of this stuff? It is also useful to consider that estimates are being made for the recovery of the Tohoku-region: they haven't even started passing out relief-money or made a significant dent in the clean-up operations. What basis does anyone have to make a qualified estimate of any recovery without seeing the outcome of relief-aid, the return of residents to stricken areas, without any systematic approach to clearing, decontaminating, and rebuilding? Look at Chernobyl, decades past and still a ghost-town. Can any of us believe the affected areas around Fukushima #1 will be any different? The charade has gotten completely out of hand. Either Japanese press must reform and transition to a free and independent press, or we are forced to look to the foreign press entirely for reliable news.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Never thought taking a shower, washing the dishes or veggies could give me cancer...thank you TEPCO. Much appreciated. Oh I forgot to thank the Government and the on the ball informative Press release Press.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

so if ground water can leak in, can it leak out? seems to me it could. so what is tepco doing about it?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Good old TEPCO, still screwing the people of Japan. Way to go idiots.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

How about just one, tiny, little good news story TEPCO?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

bet you they are hoping the flood will wash/dilute the radiation stuff onward to the Pacific Ocean. Not dumping, mind you, but an act of god.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I don't see how it's possible that water is leaking INTO the reactors unless the level of water within them is lower and it's leaking in from above. I can see rain falling in, of course, but generally the level of water will level out from higher to lower, not vice-versa -- unless it's like a torrential river flowing against the holes in the reactor. In any case, radiation is getting out there, in the water, and entering the water supply for cities like Tokyo, and it's disturbing. This won't be admitted or dealt with until long after the current TEPCO execs have retired with their golden parachutes, and the current politicians have been replaced by their sons.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

between 200 and 500 tons of groundwater a day are flowing through wall cracks into the reactor buildings of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

I think this may be happening because the reactors are mostly underground and with the melt through occurence depth has caused the integration of the underground water table with the radioactive contaminated water.

The level of contamination is undisclosed so there may or may not be way to filter the tainted water individually with a Household water filtration system. I googled to see if there were any on the market and found this site, the link is http://pureeffectfilters.com/anti-rad.html

1 ( +1 / -0 )

It just gets better and better.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Just when you think the situation cant get any worse, it invariabley does.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Corium, also called fuel containing material (FCM) or lava-like fuel containing material (LFCM), is a lava-like molten mixture of portions of nuclear reactor core, formed during a nuclear meltdown, the most severe class of a nuclear reactor accident. It consists of nuclear fuel, fission products, control rods, structural materials from the affected parts of the reactor, products of their chemical reaction with air, water and steam, and, in case the reactor vessel is breached, molten concrete from the floor of the reactor room.

between 200 and 500 tons of groundwater a day are flowing through wall cracks into the reactor buildings of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Can you say crime against humanity? They should be indicted for criminal negligence - among kther things like going out of their way to give us all radiation - and join their buddy gadaffi in the Hague.

This is worse than chernobyl. They didnt have these sort of grounfwater problems there , they tried to avoit them.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Wouldnt it make it easier then to retrieve the melted core if it seeps through the buildings outside?

No. That stuff is so radioactive you can't get near it for years. It needs to be covered and contained. If it gets exposed - well let's just say we really don't want to see that happen.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I am confused!!! Both the Government and TEPCO have been assuring me that all is OK?

Have the Press not done their job? the government not been honest or TEPCO been devious?

I have to wait 12 months to get an answer to that? Hope I can hear it as I will be coughing up my lower intestine by then.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

This news, as innocent as it is written, is the confirmation that not only the cooling systems have been heavily damaged by the earthquake, but the basements as well. Apart from the fact that the legal rules for earthquake resistance of nuclear power plants are by themselves insufficient, the Fukushima Daiichi plant obviously did not even meet the legal requirements in practice. How did this happen? Flawed calculations or simulations? Botched-up construction? Material fatigue due to the age of the plant? These are serious questions for all other plants in Japan.

There is a large water table under the dai-ichi plant and the earth cracked in the quake and subsequent explosions. [...] Oh, and did I mention that water table feeds into Tokyo's water supply?

Disillusioned, honestly, I have some doubts about what you write. Can you give some references?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

This news, as innocent as it is written, is the confirmation that not only the cooling systems have been heavily damaged by the earthquake, but the basements as well. Apart from the fact that the legal rules for earthquake resistance of nuclear power plants are by themselves insufficient, the Fukushima Daiichi plant obviously did not even meet the legal requirements in practice. How did this happen? Flawed calculations or simulations? Botched-up construction? Material fatigue due to the age of the plant? These are serious questions for all other plants in Japan.

???

I believe it was common knowledge during the first weeks that cooling systems failed and the basement was compromised with sea water. The cracks along the walls of the reactor building was to be expected given the magnitude of the quake but since the workers couldn't get in (high levels of radiation) to fix the leak.

None of this would of been an issue if the back up generator wasn't placed where it could be compromised for all they had to do was fix the leak along the walls (no need for infusing large amounts of water into the reactor, hence no contaminated water buildup inside the reactor building).

0 ( +0 / -0 )

nigelboy, I can't make sense of some of your sentences. Let me focus on these two items:

The cracks along the walls of the reactor building was to be expected given the magnitude of the quake

No. Any systems or parts of the building(s) of the plant which are safety-relevant must not be damaged by an earthquake. And don't forget that while the magnitude of the 3/11 earthquake was 9.0 at the epicenter somewhere out in the ocean it was significantly lower (a mere 7.x if I remember correctly) at Daiichi. A magnitude which not rare at all in Japan.

None of this would of been an issue if the back up generator wasn't placed where it could be compromised

This is probably wrong. The cooling systems failed immediately after the earthquake. Whether a continuous operation of the generators would have allowed a fix of the cooling system before the core meltdown started is highly doubtful.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

ocean it was significantly lower (a mere 7.x if I remember correctly) at Daiichi

a "mere" 7. Thanks. Now, let me change that to, "The cracks along the walls of the reactor building was DEFINITELY to be expected".

This is probably wrong. The cooling systems failed immediately after the earthquake. Whether a continuous operation of the generators would have allowed a fix of the cooling system before the core meltdown started is highly doubtful.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/genpatsu-fukushima/20110524/2010_gaibudengen.html

What initially compromised were the back up electrity system outside the plant as indicated by the above. Hence, the only source of electricty to operate the cooling system were the back up battery and the diesel generators of which the former operated but ran out and the latter was damaged due to the tsunami.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

a "mere" 7. Thanks. Now, let me change that to, "The cracks along the walls of the reactor building was DEFINITELY to be expected".

I was using the word "mere" because the strength was below the design target of the plant (and thus the cracks are definitely unexpected) and because the probability that a quake of that strength occurs at any of the other reactors in Japan is very high.

What initially compromised were the back up electrity system outside the plant as indicated by the above. Hence, the only source of electricty to operate the cooling system were the back up battery and the diesel generators of which the former operated but ran out and the latter was damaged due to the tsunami.

Yes, there is no contradiction. The logs of the operators state that the cooling system of reactor #1 was shut off before the back-up batteries run out of power. They have done this because the cooling system wasn't operational due to damages from the earthquake. Whether they would have been able to fix the cooling system within a few hours in case they still had electricity is pure speculation. It seems there have been no attempts, so the damages must have been serious.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Here is the same article but with a bit more information.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20_31.html

http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2011092000590

http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2011/09/tepco-admits-to-200-to-500-tonnes-of.html

0 ( +0 / -0 )

really informative article on this subject from asahi

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ2011092211606

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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