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BBC: ‘The real dead zone’ at Fukushima
- Monitor went off scale, over 180,000 CPM
- Experts shook their heads when asked where melted fuel is
- Tepco: Don’t ask what we’ll do with Reactors 1, 2, 3
- CNN: Tepco only wanted to show us Reactor 4, strict rules about what we could film
8
November, 201
BBC, Nov. 8, 2013: [...] But visiting the plant, it struck me that in our obsession with reactor four we may be missing the real story at Fukushima. [...] As our bus left reactor four and drove along the sea front, I pointed my new monitor out of the window towards reactor building three. Suddenly the needle started to spike – 1,000 counts per second, then 2,000, 3,000, finally it went off the scale. There, outside the bus, just a few dozen meters away is the real dead zone, a place where it is still far too dangerous for anyone to go. No human has been inside reactor three since the disaster. To do so would be suicide. No-one knows when it will be possible to go in. When I asked the same experts how long it would be until reactors one, two and three could be dismantled, they shook their heads. When I asked them where they thought the melted reactor cores were, they shook their heads again. [Tepco] was happy to show us reactor four, but please do not ask what they intend to do with reactors one, two and three.
BBC, Nov. 8, 2013: [...] But visiting the plant, it struck me that in our obsession with reactor four we may be missing the real story at Fukushima. [...] As our bus left reactor four and drove along the sea front, I pointed my new monitor out of the window towards reactor building three. Suddenly the needle started to spike – 1,000 counts per second, then 2,000, 3,000, finally it went off the scale. There, outside the bus, just a few dozen meters away is the real dead zone, a place where it is still far too dangerous for anyone to go. No human has been inside reactor three since the disaster. To do so would be suicide. No-one knows when it will be possible to go in. When I asked the same experts how long it would be until reactors one, two and three could be dismantled, they shook their heads. When I asked them where they thought the melted reactor cores were, they shook their heads again. [Tepco] was happy to show us reactor four, but please do not ask what they intend to do with reactors one, two and three.
Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 7, 2013: [...] The locations and the condition of the melted fuel for these reactors remain a mystery. It apparently dropped to the containment vessels through the inner pressure vessels housing the reactor cores. [...] In addition, TEPCO has not determined the extent of damage to the pressure and containment vessels. [...] The road map for decommissioning work could drastically change depending on the conditions of the melted nuclear fuel and the damage to the containment vessels.
NHK, Nov. 6, 2013: TEPCO will also need to clear rods from pools at 3 other reactors in a worse state. [...] They have been hampered by intense radiation and problems like inflow of rainwater. They’re anticipating a bigger challenge in removing molten fuel from reactor containers. TEPCO hopes to start that stage in 2020. Workers are prevented by high radioactivity from fully studying the reactor interiors. [...] TEPCO officials are seeking international cooperation to develop a machine that can remove the molten fuel, an operation never tried before.
CNN, Nov. 8, 2013 (at :30 in): There are strict rules about we can and cannot film. But this is the part of the plant Tepco wants us to show, Reactor 4.
Watch CN report HERE
Groundwater
level rising in the tank area / only 40cm to the ground surface
8
November, 2013
The groundwater level is rising in the tank area, according to Tepco. The tank areas are in a distance from the coastal line of the plant. Tepco states the mechanism is not investigated.
The groundwater level is rising in the tank area, according to Tepco. The tank areas are in a distance from the coastal line of the plant. Tepco states the mechanism is not investigated.
On
11/8/2013, Tepco published the water level data of the 9 boring holes
around the tank area that experienced 300m3 of leakage.
It
became clear that the water level of one of the borings located on
the mountain side of the tank area had 2 m increase since mid
October, and it’s stably high.
The
groundwater level is 36m, where the ground level is 36.4m. The water
is already coming up 40cm to the surface of the ground.
Tepco
made the soil stabilization to 1.2 deep underground. The
stabilized area is already sunk under the rising groundwater.
Tepco’s
spokesman commented if there is no rainfall, they can expect it to
decrease. They
won’t take any countermeasures for this problem.
2,500,000,000,000,000
Bq of all β nuclides is still retained in the turbine buildings in
total
8
November, 2013
From the report that Tepco submitted to NRA on 10/30/2013, the turbine buildings still retain 79,000 m3 of contaminated water, which contain 2,500,000,000,000,000 Bq of all β nuclides (including Strontium-90), 3,400,000,000,000,000 Bq of Cs-137, and 41,000,000,000,000 Bq of Tritium in total.
From the report that Tepco submitted to NRA on 10/30/2013, the turbine buildings still retain 79,000 m3 of contaminated water, which contain 2,500,000,000,000,000 Bq of all β nuclides (including Strontium-90), 3,400,000,000,000,000 Bq of Cs-137, and 41,000,000,000,000 Bq of Tritium in total.
The
report says the sampling date was in October 2013, but this data
hasn’t been published on Tepco’s website for some reason.
Tepco
to train amateur workers in reactor4 pool
In
the press conference of 11/8/2013, Tepco’s spokesman stated the
amateur workers are to be trained in reactor4 pool to remove the
fuel.
Tepco
plans to start the fuel removal from mid-November. According to their
statement, the skilled workers who have experienced the fuel removal
are to have training in the mock-up test. After the training, those
workers come to reactor4 pool and train the workers who have the
least experience in the actual site.
ENENews headlines -
04:16
PM EST on November 8th, 2013 | 4
comments
02:35
PM EST on November 8th, 2013 | 20
comments
ABC Los Angeles: Expert confirms radioactive water on way to West Coast and arriving in next few months; Will we really be told if it’s dangerous? — Journalist in Japan: Lethal contamination is gushing out, endangering millions and wreaking havoc on ocean (VIDEO
12:14
PM EST on November 8th, 2013 | 46
comments
01:12
PM EST on November 7th, 2013 | 127
comments
Caldicott: 50 years or more of highly contaminated water flowing into Pacific from Fukushima — Tepco VP not optimistic: “I have concerns” for long-term plan — Location of melted fuel a mystery (VIDEO)
12:16
PM EST on November 7th, 2013 | 34
comments
Top Nuclear Official: “Very large risk potential” when attempting fuel removal at Fukushima Unit 4 pool — CNN: Debris in rods may damage Tepco’s efforts (VIDEO)
Radioactive Reality (08 November 2013) Fukushima "The Real Dead Zone"
'Fukushima beyond tragic, it's a crime'
A
nuclear clean-up team in Fukushima is preparing to move the fuel rods
from one of the power plant's reactors to a safer location. It's the
most hazardous undertaking at the Japanese facility since it was
crippled by an earthquake and tsunami, two and a half years ago. To
discuss the clean-up procedures as well as the safety situation
around the Fukushima power plant, Kevin Kamps, a nuclear waste
specialist for the Beyond Nuclear Organization, joins RT.
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