Thursday, April 11, 2013

(UPDATED) Latest on #Fukushima I Nuke Plant Waste Water Pond Leaks: Pump Is Also Leaking, 22 Liters With 6.38 Billion Bq of All Beta


And the latest from TEPCO on April 11, 2013 in the email notice to the press No.35:

地下貯水槽No.3からNo.6への移送について、4月11日午後2時から移送を開始いたしましたが、同日午後2時3分に移送ポンプ出口配管の接続部(フランジ部)より漏えいが確認されたことから、同時刻に移送ポンプを停止いたしました。

Transfer of waste water from the in-the-ground water storage pond No.3 to the pond No.6 started at 2PM on April 11, but a leak was found at the flange of the pipe of the transfer pump at 2:03PM, so we stopped the pump.

漏えいについては、移送ポンプを停止したことにより停止しております。また、漏えいした水は、土中に染み込んでおります。

The leak stopped when the pump was stopped. The leaked water was soaked into the soil.


And No.37:

地下貯水槽No.3からNo.6への移送中に発生した水漏れについて、移送ポンプ出口配管の接続部(フランジ部)からの漏えいの原因調査のため、配管フランジの分解をおこないます。

We will disassemble the flange to investigate the leak that occurred during the transfer of waste water from the pond No.3 to the pond No.6.

また、漏えい水が滴下して染みこんだと思われる地下貯水槽上部覆土(盛土)の除去作業を開始いたします。

We will also start removing the soil that covers the top part of the water storage pond where the leaked water may have dripped.


The water contains 290,000 Bq/cm3 of all beta (mostly strontium), and 22 liters of this water leaked, as TEPCO's email notice No.36 confirms. That would be 6.38 billion becquerels of all beta (290,000 x 1000 x 22). Who is going to disassemble the flange and remove the dirt? TEPCO's president? One of Mr. Abe's ministers who frequent the plant for photo-ops?

They are having another press conference starting at any moment now (scheduled to start at 6PM local time).

Flange that leaked, from TEPCO's photos and videos library 4/11/2013:


TEPCO's Ono says the pump was never tested with running water. (UPDATE 4/14/2013) Ono in fact said during the press conference that the company sort of tested, by making sure the bolts were tightened to the specification, and that, by definition, was safety testing.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

If it's just beta, with some thick gloves and protective wear should be OK. You can stop beta radiation with a thin aluminum layer,

The problem would be the burns and ulcers if the particles touch the skin, like those kids during the early days of the accident which were knee deep in contaminated water for hours without protective boots.

Apolline said...

Thank you, Ultraman, to your very nightly work.
Have a good night.

arevamirpal::laprimavera said...

The surface radiation of the water is 2 sieverts/hour for beta, and 22 millisieverts/hour for gamma, even after SARRY and RO.

Anonymous said...

OT, kind of: why on earth are Tokyo Electric and Kansai Electric stocks appreciating so fast in the last few days?

Beppe

Anonymous said...

NHK aired today a program on the visit former US NRC Jackzo to Fukushima.
Among other things, Jackzo mentioned that disasters like Fukushima, whereby releases of contaminants are so large that they cause the displacement of 160,000 people must be avoided.
It is really unfortunate that NHK is airing this stuff well after midnight.

Beppe

arevamirpal::laprimavera said...

That looks like a short squeeze to me. No logical reason whatsoever.

Atomfritz said...

Please don't underestimate the leak problem just "because it's beta".
The evil thing with beta radiators is that they need much more effort to measure than gamma and thus are NOT tested for in your daily food!

One can be quite sure that by now at least around 200 cubic meters, possibly much more have leaked.

Thus, there have been leaked at least 5E13 becquerels of beta, possibly much more.

METI in its June 6, 2011 report estimated the TOTAL strontium-90 airborne release of reactor 1-3 as 1.4E14 Bq.

Thus, this leak of far less than 1% of the stored water containing the strontium etc leached from the reactor cores already represents ONE THIRD of the total airborne beta fallout!

Atomfritz said...

oops sorry big mistake: I meant AT LEAST one third of that what was released in 2011...

Anonymous said...

The last time Tepco stock appreciated briskly was right after Abe election.
If, in a week or two, we observe some "progress" towards the restart of the idled reactors it was not a short squeeze. Let's see.

Beppe

Anonymous said...

"TEPCO's Ono says the pump was never tested with running water."

I'm confused: what does one test a pump with if not running water? Or are they just saying, the pump was never tested - period? Sad enough any which way.
*mscharisma*

arevamirpal::laprimavera said...

mscharisma, sorry I wasn't thorough enough. TEPCO's PR man Ono said the company sort of tested, by making sure the bolts were tightened to the specification. And that, to TEPCO, was safe enough to run the pump.

I guess I will add that info in the post... I laughed when Ono said that during the press conference. No one in the room did.

Anonymous said...

Double checking the bolts torque is not testing... but it seems testing itself is a foreign concept to utilities like Tepco, as well as well as properly done jobs.
For example on April 9th 2011, as a result of the earthquake, the Higashidori npp halted and lost its external source of electricity. Out of its four emergency diesels two were under maintenance, two had just undergone maintenance but one failed to start because *a gasket has been installed the othe way around* and the only one that started was later found to leak oil (after external power was restored).
Effectively, emergency diesel are the last line of defense at a npp when external power is lost, as it often happens in case of natural disasters.
Beppe

Anonymous said...

Well, I guess one shouldn't be surprised. If they build storage ponds for water that weren't designed for holding liquid and therefore may or may not work, testing a pump is really a somewhat mute point.
Thanks, laprimavera, for clarifying.
*mscharisma*

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