In this Nov. 12, 2011 file photo, workers in protective suits and masks wait to enter the emergency operation center at the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station in Okuma, Japan. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder, Pool, File)
TOKYO -- Japan's crippled nuclear power plant leaked about 45 tons of highly radioactive water from a purification device over the weekend, its operator said, and some may have drained into the ocean.
The leak is a reminder of the difficulties facing Tokyo Electric Power Co. as it tries to meet its goal of bringing the tsunami-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant to a cold shutdown by year's end.
A pool of radioactive water was discovered midday Sunday around a decontamination device, TEPCO said in a statement on its website. After the equipment was turned off, the leak appeared to stop. Later, workers found a crack in a concrete barrier leaking the contaminated water into a gutter that leads to the ocean.
TEPCO estimated about 300 liters leaked out before the crack was blocked with sandbags.
Officials were checking whether any water had reached the nearby ocean.
The leakage of radioactive water from the Fukushima plant into the Pacific Ocean in the weeks after the March 11 accident caused widespread concern that seafood in the coastal waters would be contaminated.
The pooled water around the purification device was measured Sunday at 16,000 bequerels per liter of cesium-134, and 29,000 bequerels per liter of cesium-137, TEPCO said. That's 270 times and 322 times higher, respectively, than government safety limits, according to the Citizens' Nuclear Information Center in Tokyo.
Cesium-137 is dangerous because it can last for decades in the environment, releasing cancer-causing radiation. The half-life of cesium-134 is about two years, while the half-life of cesium-137 is about 30 years.
TEPCO is using the purification devices to decontaminate water that has been cooling the reactors. Three of the plant's reactor cores mostly melted down when the March 11 tsunami knocked out the plant's cooling system.
~ ~ ~
Editorial Comment:
We are approaching nine months since the Fukushima disaster and what have we learned during these past nine months? Well, I think you can put at the top of the list the inability of TEPCO and the Japanese government to tell the truth about what is going on at the Fukushima Daichi Nuclear facility.
This seems to be a shared trait among nuclear power plant operators. They know that the product they are dealing with is highly dangerous and potentially very deadly if even the slightest little thing goes wrong.
They seem to possess the gamblers thrill when they roll the 'for-profit' dice and shoot the moon. As long as Lady Luck shines down upon them all is well with their world. That's the funny thing about gamblers.
But when luck turns bad and the thrill of the game becomes instead deadly dance for survival and the gambler pulls in those around him whether they are playing the game or not.
I saw something on TV the other day that said none of the workers from the Fukushima plant got sick. That sounds unbelievable but it was the workers saying this. Not sure what to think. I also read that the disaster there is rated a 7 now, just like Chernobyl -- the worst of the worst. It's insane that we build such things.
ReplyDelete