4/10/2013 Update on Never-Ending Pond Leak Story out of #Fukushima I Nuke Plant: Radioactive Materials Found Outside the Liners

(The post will be updated as the day/night progresses...)

Let's start from the latest...　

(UPDATE) TEPCO says they will hold a press conference in J-Village from 3:30PM today (April 10) with TEPCO's president, who will explain the situation of the leak. The regular TEPCO press conference will start one hour earlier, at 4:30PM.

(UPDATE) NHK just reported that radioactive materials detected outside the liners for the pond No.1 was 0.11 Bq/cc (cm3) (or 110 Bq/liter) of radioactive strontium (and others, of course).

Just a headline from Kyodo News (11:27AM 4/10/2013):

福島第１原発の地下貯水槽の防止シート外側で微量の放射性物質が検出されたと、東京電力が発表。

TEPCO announced that a very small amount of radioactive materials has been detected outside the liners for the in-the-ground water storage.

No info on which pond, how much.

TEPCO so far has hoped that the leaks in the pond No.3 and the pond No.1 are at the locations where the leak detection pipes stick out, piercing through the HDPE layers. Unfortunately, that is not the case for the pond No.1.

Asahi Shinbun reports (4/10/2013; part):

新たに漏れが見つかったのは、１号貯水槽。これまで漏れが見つかった２、３号貯水槽のうち、２号貯水槽の汚染水の９２００トンを６日から移し替えている途中だった。

A new leak was found in the storage No.1. Leaks had been found in the storage No.2 and No.3, and 9,200 tonnes of waste water in the storage No.2 was being transported to the storage No.1 starting April 6.

東電によると、９日午前、３重構造の遮水シートの間にたまった水を調べたところ、１立方センチあたり高濃度の１万ベクレルが検出され、汚染水の漏れを確認した。

According to TEPCO, the water between the 3-layer waterproof sheets was tested in the morning of April 9, and found 10,000 becquerels/cm3 of radioactive materials which confirmed the leak of the waste water.

東電はこれまで、貯水槽の上部から漏れていると推定。満水状態にしなければ汚染水をためられるとしていた。しかし、今回漏れた１号貯水槽は５割しかたまっておらず、底に近い方のシートの継ぎ目などから漏れたことが確実となった。

So far, TEPCO had assumed that the leak was from the upper part of the storage, and insisted that they could use the storage as long as the storage was not filled to the top. However, the storage No.1 where the new leak was found was only 50% full. It is now certain that the location of the leak is near the bottom, probably from one of the joints of the liners.

Meanwhile, the Nuclear Regulatory Authority met in the morning of April 10 to discuss the leak problem, but the meeting lasted for only 30 minutes, as there is no effective way to deal with the leak.

Jiji Tsushin reports (4/10/2013; part):

会合では規制委として、汚染水を保管するタンクの増設前倒しを東電に要求することや、放射性物質を取り除く多核種除去装置の本格稼働を急ぐことなどが挙げられたが、新たに有効な対策は示されず、議論は３０分足らずで終了した。

At the meeting, they raised the issues such as demanding TEPCO to build additional storage tanks for the waste water ahead of schedule and pushing for the start of the multi-nuclide removal system [ALPS]. However, there was no effective measure [for the leak], and the meeting was over in less than 30 minutes.

規制委で事故対応を担当する更田豊志委員は「過酷な現場で作業を進めている」と述べ、現場に配慮して警告が十分できなかったと反省した。

Commissioner Toyoshi Fuketa, who is in charge of the accident response, said "The work is being carried out in an extremely harsh environment", and regretted that he could not give enough warning in consideration for the workers there.

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