175 replies to this topic

[Bob-C]

H i everyone, according to a report from enenews.com,"TEPCO official reveals there is 'little doubt' plutonium has leaked from Fukushima (VIDEO)April 18th, 2011 at 08:07 PM." The report explains:

NHK, April 18, 2011 at 4:43 pm EDT:

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says it will examine the seabed off the facility to ensure that no plutonium has leaked into the ocean.

Tokyo Electric Power Company said on Monday it will conduct the inspection as plutonium is heavier than other radioactive materials and could have accumulated on the floor. …

TEPCO senior official Junichi Matsumoto said there is little doubt that plutonium has leaked from the plant during the accident.

Bob-C

[Bob-C]

Hi everyone, according to a report from enenews.com, "Radiation at No. 2 spent fuel pool millions of times above normal & thousands of times higher than troubled No. 4 poolApril 19th, 2011 at 12:33 PM." The report states:

Tepco starts to pump out turbine unit, Japan Times, April 19, 2011:

… Monday night, Tepco said it detected high radioactivity coming from the spent fuel pool of the No. 2 unit, indicating that either the fuel rods in the pool were damaged or steam containing radioactive materials that rose from the reactor dissolved in the pool water.

Some 160,000 becquerels per cubic cm of cesium-134, 150,000 becquerels of cesium-137 and 4,100 becquerels of radioactive iodine-131 were detected in a water sample extracted from the storing pool on Saturday.

Read the report here.

The report points out:

No. 2 Reactor Spent Fuel Rods May Be Damaged, Jiji, April 19, 2011:

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Monday that spent nuclear fuel rods at the No. 2 reactor at its crippled nuclear power plant may be damaged although damage levels have yet to be known.

The company said its examination of water in a tank connected to the spent fuel pool of the reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 plant, ravaged by the March 11 quake and tsunami, found 4,100 becquerels of radioactive iodine per cubic centimeter and 4,000 to 160,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium.

The radioactive cesium levels are extremely high, company official Junichi Matsumoto said. The company believes the levels, compared with data on leaks from the reactor vessel, indicate that spent fuel rods have been exposed and damaged. The spent fuel pool contains 615 fuel assemblies.

However, the industry ministry's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency believes the detected radioactive materials are likely to have leaked from the reactor vessel.

The agency explained that it is implausible to associate the high concentration of iodine-131, whose half-life is short, with spent nuclear fuel rods, which are stored for a long time.

Read the report here.

The report further explained:

"A sample of water taken Tuesday [from No. 4′s spent fuel pool] contained 220 becquerels of iodine-131 per cubic centimeter. That compares with a level of just 0.01 becquerels or less for normal spent fuel pools." -Wall Street Journal, April 14

"The company said a newly analysis indicated the damage to some fuel rods in the No. 4 unit's spent nuclear fuel pool, as it detected higher levels of radioactive iodine-131, cesium-134 and cesium-137 than normal. Radioactive iodine-131 amounting to 220 becquerels per cubic centimeter, cesium-134 of 88 becquerels and cesium-137 of 93 becquerels were detected in the No. 4 unit's spent nuclear fuel pool water, according to the TEPCO. Those Radioactive materials are generated by nuclear fission." – International Business Times, April 14

Bob-C

Edited by Bob-C, 19 April 2011 - 02:52 PM.

[Bob-C]

Hi everyone, according to an article from enenews.com, "Enormous amount of high-level radioactive waste coming from Unit No. 2 — Reactor and containment are breached (VIDEO)April 19th, 2011 at 03:56 PM." The report states:

Arnie Gundersen interview, Democracy Now, April 19, 2011:

Transcript Excerpts [Emphasis Added]

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about TEPCO saying that they were optimistic that they could bring down radiation at the damaged plant and go to a cold shutdown of the facility in six to nine months? … Will radiation be leaking for the six to nine months?

ARNIE GUNDERSEN: Radiation is leaking every day now, both liquid into the ocean and also airborne. When you see those clouds of smoke coming out of the unit, that’s not steam, that’s radioactive steam. So, they’re releasing radioactivity as a airborne, and also, probably more important right now is Unit 2, the reactor has a hole in it, and the containment has a hole in it. So they’re pouring water in the top, and it’s running out the bottom. And it’s what’s causing all of this enormous amount of high-level radioactive waste. …

Bob-C

[Bob-C]

Hi everyone, according to a report from enenews.com, "TEPCO official describes possible meltdown at No. 1 reactor: The 'molten fuel accumulates like lava'April 21st, 2011 at 08:41 AM." The report explains:

Kyodo reported that on Wednesday a TEPCO official admitted the fuel in reactor No. 1 “could be melting.”

TEPCO official Junichi Matsumoto described the “possible meltdown”, comparing it to “a state in which molten fuel accumulates like lava.”

Bob-C

[Bob-C]

Hi everyone, according to an article from enenews.com, "Expert who worked at Sandia Labs: 'TEPCO data suggest that fission is ongoing… This is bad news' — 'Truly scary' that nobody in Japan seems to know basics of reactor accident progression April 21st, 2011 at 07:15 PM." The report explains:

After 5 Halflives, I-131 Higher than Cs-134/137 Suggests Ongoing Criticalities, Gerson Lehrman Group, April 19, 2011:

… Japanese regulators NISA and MEXT seem oblivious of the mysterious fact that I-131 Bq “reactor density” is still often reported double the Cs-134/137 Bq. The TEPCO data suggest that fission is ongoing despite the reactor shutdowns. This is bad news. …

Everyone with just a very basic understanding of reactor safety should know that once a reactor is scrammed, U-235 is no longer fissioning, and I-131 has no parent which can be decaying to create it in an ongoing process… the water circulating in intact SNF pools should have absolutely no detectable I-131 in them. …

[I]t has been almost five full 8-day halflives for their I-131 to decay to stable xenon. At t=0, as we say, the Bq of I-131 and Cs-134 and Cs-137 would all be approximately equal, but, after five I-131 halflives, the “reactor density” radioactivity of I-131 should be only 1/2**5=~3% of what it was originally. Go look at all the data of relative radioactivity that TEPCO is reporting with dates of April 19, 2011 and you’ll see that instead of I-131 being below the levels of the two cesiums, I-131 is often twice as high as the two cesiums always reported.

The fact that nobody in Japan seems to know basics of reactor accident progression that I learned at Sandia Labs in early 1980s is truly scary, because it suggests they are playing with these broken/leaking reactors and SNF pools inside at least three buildings totally destroyed by steam explosions … as if the reactors and their SNF pools are broken toys that they’re using trial and error to try fixing.

Read the report here.

Bob-C

[Bob-C]

Hi everyone, according to a repport from enenews.com, "ALERT: Japan admits daily radioactive release from Fukushima at least 15,000% higher than previously announcedApril 23rd, 2011 at 07:13 PM." The report states:

Trillion becquerels of radioactivity released into the atmosphere last 154 day, Yomiuri Shimbun, April 23, 2011:

Google Translation

NSC 23, the Cabinet Office, the amount of radioactive material were released into the atmosphere from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station TEPCO, even at five days this month settled emissions, Terra 154 becquerels per day (One terabyte is 1 trillion) announced that it had reached. [...]

Read the report here.

The report explains:

Fukushima I Nuke Plant: 154 Terabecquerels Per Day, Every Day, EX-SKF, April 23, 2011:

[Emphasis Added]

Fukushima I Nuke Plant: 154 Terabecquerels Per Day, Every Day of radioactive iodine and cesium still spewing out of the plant, Japan’s Nuclear Safety Commission now admits.

[...] From Yomiuri Shinbun (9:15PM JST 4/23/2011):

The Nuclear Safety Commission under the Prime Minister’s Office disclosed on April 23 that the amount of radioactive materials being released from the TEPCO Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant was 154 terabecquerels per day (1 tera is 1 trillion) as late as April 5 when the amount being released was considered stabilized.

On April 5, the estimated amount of radioactive materials released from Fukushima I Nuke Plant was 0.69 terabecquerels/hour for iodine-131 and 0.14 terabecquerels/hour for cesium-137. When the numbers were recalculated according to the INES method (converting cesium amount into iodine equivalent), the amount released turned out to be 6.4 terabecquerels/hour (which was 154 terabecquerels per day. Previously, the Nuclear Safety Commission had simply added the numbers for iodine-131 and cesium-137, and announced it was less than 1 terrabecquerel per day.

Read the report here.

Bob-C

[Bob-C]

Hi everyone, according to a report from enenews.com, "TEPCO unable to verify water levels at reactors No. 2 and 3 — Suspects water is leaking from damaged containment vessels April 26th, 2011 at 07:51 AM." The report explains:

TEPCO filling containment vessels; experts raise doubts, Asahi Shimbun, April 26, 2011:

[...] TEPCO has been unable to verify the water levels at the No. 2 and No. 3 reactors, and suspect that water is leaking from the damaged containment vessels. …

At the No. 2 reactor, highly radioactive water is believed to be seeping through a hole in the suppression pool, which leads into the lower part of the containment vessel. [...]

Read the report here.

Bob-C

Edited by Bob-C, 26 April 2011 - 11:31 AM.

[Bob-C]

Hi everyone, according to a report by enenews.com, "'Mysterious circumstances' of explosion at reactor No. 3 — Cannot be explained by a simple hydrogen build-up April 26th, 2011 at 12:45 PM." The report states:

Fairewinds Associates email update via hudebnik, April 26, 2011 at 12:10 pm EDT:

Tomorrow at 7pm EST Arnie Gundersen [...] explores "the mysterious circumstances surrounding the powerful explosion that rocked Fukushima Daiichi reactor building 3. The force [...] was unlike the others and cannot be explained by a simple hydrogen build-up." (From today's Fairewinds update email).

From yesterday: Russian TV Host: There are reports that one of the Fukushima explosions was not actually a gas blast but a "nuclear reaction" (VIDEO)

Bob-C

[Bob-C]

Hi everyone, according to a report from enenews.com, "Japan gov’t announces new leakage from reactor No. 1 containment vessel April 26th, 2011 at 07:45 PM." The report explains:

New Leaks Detected at Japan’s Nuclear Power Plant, ABC News Radio, April 26, 2011:

In yet another setback to gaining control of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency announced Tuesday that radioactive water was detected leaking from the containment vessel of reactor number one. [...]

The leak wasn’t detected by robots when they initially went into reactor number one on April 17 to check for radiation levels there, but NISA said they detected the problem while examining data from the nitrogen injections [...]

The new leakage is expected to slow down efforts to flood the reactor’s containment vessel with water to cool it down. [...]

Bob-C

[Bob-C]

Hi everyone, according to a report from enenews.com, "IAEA: ‘Vapor’ rising from reactors No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 April 27th, 2011 at 07:39 PM." The report clarifies:

Reactor Flooding Effort Proceeds at Japan Reactor, Global Security Newswire, April 27, 2011:

Workers continued the insertion of nitrogen gas into the No. 1 reactor to prevent additional explosions. White vapor continued to exit reactors No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4, according to an IAEA statement. [...] (International Atomic Energy Agency release).

Read the report here.

“Radiation is leaking every day now… When you see those clouds of smoke coming out of the unit, that’s not steam, that’s radioactive steam. So, they’re releasing radioactivity as a airborne” -Arnie Gundersen, nuclear expert.

Bob-C