Sunday, January 29, 2012

#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: 17 Minor Leaks In Pipes and Valves Found in 2 Days, Freezing Temperature Blamed

All are minor, says TEPCO, ranging from tens of liters to several tonnes, and the water leaked is either pure water, filtered water (river water), or the treated water. None found the way to the ocean, or so TEPCO says.

3 leaks were discovered on January 28, followed by 14 additional leaks on January 29, according to TEPCO. The lowest temperature at the plant on January 29 was -8 degrees Celsius (17.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

TEPCO's Matsumoto says the company will hurry up the insulation work, and hopes to finish it by spring.

Ummm, the frost will be over by spring, won't it?

Looking at TEPCO's press release, the leaks are mostly at the flanges. Some of the leaks from the reverse osmosis system have been found with high beta radiation.

Locations of the 14 leaks discovered on January 29, 2012:


Details of the leaks discovered on January 29, 2012:



The worker who tweets from Fukushima I Nuke Plant was talking about the leak on Twitter last night, and he said that the suggestion of insulation and heaters when the hoses were installed last summer was turned down, because of budget concern.

TEPCO's modus operandi since March 11, 2011 in English: "lock the stable door after the horse has bolted".

In Japanese: 泥棒を捕らえて縄をなう (Catch the thief and then start making the rope to bind him.)

Some photos from TEPCO on the leaky flanges covered with plastic (to prevent further leaking), with blue tarps lying around:


4 comments:

Stock said...

http://nukepimp.blogspot.com/p/astronomy-and-carrington.html

The Carrington effect (solar storm) could cause a large area power loss that may take years to restore.

And you know what happens to nuke plants when you take their power away.

After a massive solar minimum, not seen in centuries, we are springing back with a solar maximum that is going to be a doozy. Even Sunday, another massive Coronal Mass Ejection threatens earth and we may get more than just a light show.

And check out the other resources on the "Nukepimp" blog which is a stop the nukes site. Drop a comment.

Anonymous said...

Insulating pipes after they rupture. Great idea, TEPCO! Obviously no minutes from any piping system planning meeting will be found, right? The plastic baggy reinforcement really looks cool, though. Maybe TEPCO can just put one big plastic baggy over the whole Daiichi plant.

Anonymous said...

That's not quite the cold shutdown we had in mind, mates. I saw the press conference on this. But the room was empty. Just as TEPCO wants it, I'm sure.

Anonymous said...

I would like government officials to explain to the public the reason why they have emergency procedures if they are too afraid to use them when an emergency happens. Like at the start of a new project when they announce how safe the plant will be and how the public will be protected - I want the public to be able to say "Well, no thanks. You have emergency procedures to notify us and the nuclear industry has a long history of refusing to notify the public because you're afraid we'll panic so - in reality- you have no working plan for how to deal with a disaster other than to lie to us....

Having a plan that will never be implemented for fear of panic is the same as having no working plan to protect the public - I am tired of the pretense.

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