Friday, July 26, 2013

#Fukushima I Nuke Plant Groundwater Contamination: 2.35 Billion Bq/L of Cesium in Water in Trench That Comes from Reactor 2 Turbine Building


(UPDATE 7/27/2013) TEPCO just released (7/28/2013) the data on tritium from this observation hole (B1-1): 8,700,000 Bq/L.

The observation hole No.1-2 has been consistently found with high levels of tritium, with most recent measurement at 350,000 Bq/L from the sample taken on July 22, 2013.

=============================

5,000 cubic meters, or 5,000 tonnes of this water is in the trench.

It's one thing or another at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, and now it's back to contaminated groundwater along the seawall.

After sheepishly admitting the groundwater that got somehow contaminated along the way to the seawall may have been seeping into the sea after all (but only into the open culvert outside water intake canals enclosed by the silt screen, not even inside the plant harbor), TEPCO took samples from the trench for electrical wires and seawater pipe that connects Reactor 2 turbine building and the water intake for Reactor 2 in an effort to identify the source of contamination of the groundwater sampled along the seawall.

The trench for electrical cables is where the extremely contaminated water was flowing freely from the Reactor 2 turbine building into the open culvert back in April 2011.

The surface radiation level of that water in April 2011 was over 1 Sievert/hour (the survey meter went overscale).

The Reactor 2 turbine building basement is filled with contaminated water that comes from the reactor building every day as water is being injected to cool the corium, though the density of radioactive materials is being diluted daily with groundwater that seeps into the reactor/turbine building.

TEPCO just announced the result of the analysis of the sample taken on July 26, 2013 from the trench, and to be expected, the result was comparable to the highly contaminated water back in April 2011.

From TEPCO's email notice for the press, 7/27/2013 (part):

...本日(7月27日)、海側トレンチ内高濃度汚染水の汚染源の特定などの調査の一環として、新たに観測孔を設置した2号機取水電源ケーブルトレンチ(B1-1:海水配管基礎部)の7月26日に採取した測定結果が以下の通りとりまとまったことからお知らせします。...

Today (July 27), we would like to announce the result of the analysis of the sample taken on July 26 from a new observation hole in the Reactor 2 water intake electric cable trench (B1-1: at the foundation of seawater pipe trench) as follows.

平成23年4月に発生した2号機取水口スクリーン室への漏えい水の濃度と比較すると同程度となっております。

The numbers are comparable to those of the water leaked to the Reactor 2 water intake screen room, which happened in April 2011.

<B1-1:2号機取水電源ケーブルトレンチ(海水配管基礎部)>
・7月26日採取分:
塩素 8,000 ppm
セシウム134  7億5千万 Bq/L(75万 Bq/cm3)
セシウム137  16億 Bq/L(160万 Bq/cm3)
全ベータ 7億5千万 Bq/L(75万 Bq/cm3)

B1-1: Reactor 2 water intake/electric cable trench (foundation of seawater pipe trench)
Sample collected on 7/26/2013:
Chloride: 8,000 ppm
Cesium-134: 750 million Bq/L (750,000 Bq/cm3)
Cesium-137: 1.6 billion Bq/L (1.6 million Bq/cm3)
All-beta: 750 million Bq/L (750,000 Bq/cm3)

<B2:2号機取水電源ケーブルトレンチ>(お知らせ済み)
・7月17日採取分:
塩素 70 ppm
セシウム134  1200万 Bq/L(1万2千 Bq/cm3)
セシウム137  2400万 Bq/L(2万4千 Bq/cm3)
全ベータ  2300万 Bq/L(2万3千 Bq/cm3)

B2: Reactor 2 water intake/electric cable trench (result already announced)
Sample collected on 7/17/2013
Chloride: 70 ppm
Cesium-134: 12 million Bq/L (12,000 Bq/cm3)
Cesium-137: 24 million Bq/L (24,000 Bq/cm3)
All-beta: 23 million Bq/L (23,000 Bq/cm3)

<平成23年4月の2号機取水口スクリーン付近から漏えいした汚染水の性状>
・セシウム134 18億 Bq/L(180万 Bq/cm3)
セシウム137 18億 Bq/L(180万 Bq/cm3)

Contaminated water that leaked from near the Reactor 2 water intake screen in April 2011
Cesium-134: 1.8 billion Bq/L (1.8 million Bq/cm3)
Cesium-137: 1.8 billion Bq/L (1.8 million Bq/cm3)


It does look like the same water that leaked in April 2011, and it looks like the water has been sitting inside the trench after TEPCO managed to stop the leak. The density of radioactive materials in the water in the duct is higher than the water in the turbine building. The question is whether the water is leaking outside the duct, and how to find that out.

Location of the trench, from TEPCO (7/26/2013; page 5, English labels are mine):


When the highly contaminated water was found leaking (the red circle in the picture above), all TEPCO and everyone else cared about was the electrical cable duct - the one in yellow. I do not think TEPCO looked into the duct for seawater pipe - the one in green - at all.

According to the same TEPCO information dated 7/26/2013, the amount of contaminated water in the trench for seawater intake pipe for Reactor 2 is about 5,000 m3, or 5,000 tonnes. The similar trench for Reactor 3 has about 6,000 m3, or 6,000 tonnes:


The density of radioactive materials for Reactor 2 seawater duct in the table above is the data from July 17, 2013 above. With the data from July 26, 2013, the density is in the same order of magnitude as that for Reactor 3 seawater duct.

21 comments:

John Vines said...

In the spirit of "The China Syndrome" being relased on the heels of the Three Mile Island debacle, it seems like nothing could be more topical than a "re-booting" of ol' Gojira/Godzilla. But I wonder: has the J-gov't/TEPCO put the word out that mention of the "G" fella would amount to the spreading of "baseless rumors"? Seriously, with breakdown after breakdown at Fukushima I, chronically shoddy work, radiation leaking into the ocean: there should already be multiple new "franchises" of the Gojira/Godzilla tale. I have a feeling though, that the grouchy mutant is taboo in Japan these days.

Scott said...

Ugh what a mess. Will there ever be any good news to come from Tepco that isn't a flat out lie or distortion of truth?

I wonder how many other inconvenient truths their sitting on...

Anonymous said...

Could some corium be leaking out and this is where it is exiting from? It seems quite obvious...
Now how much corium is there that could continue to leak?
Can it be halted?

Anonymous said...

Seems to be to much cooling fresh ground water and saltwater for the corium to be hot enough to flow. Probably stopped flowing soon after the meltdowns and just contaminates everything within reach of its neutrons or whatever poisons water and air carries off.

Must be a lot of hydrogen being produced due to hydrolytic breakdown of the water by all those rays flying around.

They told us about tritium, now how about plutonium makeup or other heavy elements.


Anonymous said...

There are reports of the Cesium levels now int he TRILLIONS of BQ/KG....

Which is even WORSE than your #'s.

Anonymous said...

Can you post a link/s to the trillions of bq/kg reports please. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Trillions of Bq? Let me guess. Some blog somewhere did it again, by multiplying billions of Bq by 1000 to turn the number into "trillions Bq/ton"?

Maju said...

@Anon: on the contrary, Fukushima Diary has several times denounced that TEPCO divides the figures by 1000 in the English-language version of their reports. So maybe that's the reason of your confusion.

...

As for the "China syndrome", it seems now that the simplest explanation is that sea and ground water is directly connected to the containers. That would keep the corium cool but it also brings all or most of the released radiation and nuclides directly to the water table and the sea.

It's almost like an open Chernobyl, multiplied times three or four.

Maju said...

The figure is of trillions in fact: http://fukushima-diary.com/2013/07/2350000000000-bqm3-of-cs-134137-from-seaside-trench-of-reactor2/

Anonymous said...

So Fukushima Diary did it again, Maju. TEPCO announces the result in LITERS, and this guy multiplies it by 1000 and turns the result in M3, or TONNE. You don't announce test results like this in tonnes. One tonne is 1000 liters, just in case.

Just to get shock value, more eyeball. Disgusting.

As to so-called allegation that "TEPCO divides the figures by 1000 in the English-language version", that's BS. All TEPCO commits is transcription errors.

Reality is bad enough. We don't need sensationalism like Fukushima Diary seems to engage in.

arevamirpal::laprimavera said...

Maju, this level of high contamination is usually reported in Bq/cm3.

TEPCO reported it in liters instead this time, because, as they said, the water is close to the ocean and the contamination of seawater is usually reported in Bq/liters (that's how the regulations for exhaust water from nuclear power plants are written, in Bq/liters).

It's not the matter of TEPCO or anyone wanting to hide the truth. It is just how it's supposed to be reported.

Maju said...

@Laprivamera: can you check, as you are Japanese yourself, if the TEPCO sources for the FD entry that I linked to say 2.35 Bq/m³ or something else. I seriously doubt that Mochizuki is manipulating the data or committing such a brutal error, sincerely.

Maju said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
arevamirpal::laprimavera said...

Maju, TEPCO's document clearly says the unit of measurement is "Bq/L".

Maju said...

So is it 2.35 million Bq/l? (not 2.35 as I wrongly wrote before)

If so, and now I get my maths straight (not as in the deleted comment, which you may have read but was absolutely wrong), that is: 2.35 trillion Bq/m³, so x1000 what Mochizuki said or I am missing something.

arevamirpal::laprimavera said...

Maju, it's "2.35 billion Bq/L".

Maju said...

Then it is the same as Mochizuki said (and not what I said because I guess the figures are dancing in my head and I should go to sleep - my apologies).

Anonymous said...

Maju, the point is, TEPCO, or anyone for that matter, does not announce numbers in m3, or tonne. Claiming that TEPCO announced the number in tonne, he's lying right there. Many of his unwary readers, unlike you, believe it is about liter.

Maju said...

He is NOT lying and I'm seeing Bq/m³ everywhere, possibly because it is standard SI (liter is not nor is cm³, both are SI-related but non-standard).

It's you the anonymous cowards who are throwing shit where undeserved.

arevamirpal::laprimavera said...

Maju, to be sure, TEPCO has never released measurements of radioactive materials in Bq/m3 (cubic meters), as far as I know. It is in Bq/cm3 or Bq/milliliter, Bq/Liter, or Bq/kg, Bq/g. I think I've seen millibecquerels in early days, measuring plutonium or other transuranic nuclides, and people freaked out without noticing "milli".

Anonymous posters are welcome here.

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