Arnie Gundersen: They Want To Dump All Fukushima’s Radioactive Water Into The Pacific – Tepco: It Will Be Diluted, Then Released

Gundersen: They want to dump all Fukushima’s radioactive water in Pacific — Tepco: It will be diluted, then released — Professor suggests pumping it out in deep ocean (VIDEOS) (ENENews, Dec 2, 2013):

Interview with Arnie Gundersen, The Real News Network, Dec. 1, 2013: Dale Klein is now suggesting is that we’re just going to take [Fukushima’s radioactive water] and pump it into the Pacific. And I don’t think that’s a very good idea. It’s cheap and it’s fast, it’s the expedient way of doing it, but really there’s something called the London dumping convention. And back in 1972, Greenpeace was very active in preventing radiation from being dumped into the ocean and to my way of thinking, this would violate the London Dumping Convention if they did it.

Interview with Tepco adviser Dale Klein, ABC Australia, Nov. 20, 2013: “At the end of the day, when the water is discharged, it will be released in a way that it’s diluted so there’s no risk to public health and safety. But it’s an emotional issue.”

Enformable, Dec. 2, 2013: TEPCO forced to shut down contaminated water processing system at Fukushima Daiichi again

Read moreArnie Gundersen: They Want To Dump All Fukushima’s Radioactive Water Into The Pacific – Tepco: It Will Be Diluted, Then Released

Why TEPCO Is Really Risking The Removal of Fukushima Fuel Rods – The Dangers Of Uncontrolled Global Nuclear Radiation

From the article:

The Reactor 4 spent fuel pool contains an estimated 400 tons of uranium and plutonium oxide, compared with just 6.2 kilograms of plutonium inside Fat Man, the hydrogen bomb that obliterated Nagasaki in 1945.

The un-irradiated rods inside the Unit 4 spent-fuel pool are, in all probability, made of a new type of MOX fuel containing highly enriched plutonium. If the frame collapses, triggering fire or explosion inside the spent-fuel pool, the plutonium would pulse powerful neutron bursts that may well possibly ignite distant nuclear power plants, starting with the Fukushima No.2 plant, 10 kilometers to the south.

Evacuation would be impeded by the scale and intensity of multiple reactor explosions, which would shut down all transport systems, telecommunications and trap most residents. Tens of millions would die horribly in numbers topping all disasters of history combined.

An alternative possibility is of a tritium-plutonium reaction creating gas plasma inside the spent fuel pool. The condition of the cladding on the rods, which would have been melted by plasma, can indicate the heat source during those two fires. None dare mention are tritium-plutonium inter-reaction because that is the formula for a thermonuclear bomb, that is, the H-bomb. MOX fuel does have the potential to generate sufficient tritium for a thermonuclear, and that is what so rattled Naoto Kan by March 12, 2011.

Flashback:

‘The Greatest Threat Humanity Has Ever Faced’: Fukushima Reactor No. 4 SFP ‘An Immediate Problem’ – Building Is Sinking, Over 30 Inches In Places:

Fukushima reactor No. 4 SFP contains something on the order of 400.000 kg of hot plutonium.

They say that one microgram of plutonium could theoretically kill a person.

There are billion micrograms in a kilogram and there are 400.000 hot kilograms in this pool.

More info on Fukushima reactor no. 4 SFP down below.


Why TEPCO is Risking the Removal of Fukushima Fuel Rods. The Dangers of Uncontrolled Global Nuclear Radiation (Global Research, Nov. 24, 2013):

By Yoichi Shimatsuformer, former editor of the Japan Times Weekly in Tokyo

After repeated delays since the summer of 2011, the Tokyo Electric Power Company has launched a high-risk operation to empty the spent-fuel pool atop Reactor 4 at the Dai-ichi (No.1) Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.

The urgency attached to this particular site, as compared with reactors damaged in meltdowns, arises from several factors:

–         over 400 tons of nuclear material in the pool could reignite

–         the fire-damaged tank is tilting badly and may topple over sooner than later

–         collapse of the structure could trigger a chain reaction and nuclear blast, and

–         consequent radioactive releases would heavily contaminate much of the world.

The potential for disaster at the Unit 4 SFP is probably of a higher magnitude than suspected due to the presence of fresh fuel rods, which were delivered during the technical upgrade of Reactor 4 under completion at the time of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The details of that reactor overhaul by GE and Hitachi have yet to be disclosed by TEPCO and the Economy Ministry and continue to be treated as a national-security matter. Here, the few clues from whistleblowers will be pieced together to decipher the nature of the clandestine activity at Fukushima No.1.

Read moreWhy TEPCO Is Really Risking The Removal of Fukushima Fuel Rods – The Dangers Of Uncontrolled Global Nuclear Radiation

Fukushima Update (Nov 21, 2013): TEPCO President: ‘Be Prepared For The Worst’ – Mentally Disabled Working At Fukushima

ENENews, Nov 21, 2013:

TV: Mentally disabled are working at Fukushima Daiichi, says journalist — Many men forced to go to plant — Homeless treated like ‘disposable people’ (VIDEO)

Tepco President: “Be prepared for the worst” — Fukushima is “a warning to the world” — “We made a lot of excuses to ourselves”

Oregon Official: Reports coming in of seafood with radioactive contamination, “They’re kind of secretive, they don’t want to give up their sources” — Locals concerned about impact Fukushima disaster is having on area fish (VIDEO)

Tepco: Plutonium is in Unit 4 fuel, it can be leaking out from holes and cracks in rods — Former Fukushima Engineer: State of plant is “hopeless”; Unit 4 vulnerable, “very dangerous”

Conservative Radio Host: Fukushima could be going on for centuries — Nobody knows how deep fuel went after melting — It’s sad people not paying attention, busy watching TV and football — Interviews Arnie Gundersen (AUDIO)

Gundersen: Up to 3 explosions hit Fukushima Unit 4 after 3/11 — Study: There was fire in its spent fuel pool — NPR: Big worry since fire weakened building’s structure (AUDIO)

Arnie Gundersen: Remove TEPCO Before Removing Fuel Rods From Fukushima Reactor No. 4 SFP (Video)

Remove TEPCO Before Removing Fuel. from Fairewinds Energy Education on Vimeo.

Description:

Fairewinds has fielded a number of questions regarding the removal of the fuel rods from the spent fuel pool in Unit 4 at Fukushima Daiichi. Today’s video shows Arnie debunking TEPCO’s animated film point by point, and highlights the issues TEPCO will have removing the fuel rods. TEPCO needs to be removed as the organization overseeing the cleanup of the site prior to the removal of the fuel rods.

TEPCO To Start Fuel Removal From Fukushima Reactor No. 4 Spent Fuel Pool Monday

Related info:

Arnie Gundersen: Remove TEPCO Before Removing Fuel Rods From Fukushima Reactor No. 4 SFP (Video)

Fukushima Reactor No. 4 SFP: Damaged Fuel Rods Cracked And Leaking Radioactive Gases

Arnie Gundersen: Fuel Already ‘Very Close To Going Critical’ At Fukushima Reactor No. 4 SFP – Must Be Extraordinarily Careful About Starting Chain Reaction


Tepco to start fuel removal from Fukushima reactor 4 pool Monday (Japan Times/Kyodo, Nov 15, 2013):

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Friday it will start removing nuclear fuel from the spent fuel pool of the reactor 4 building at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 plant from Monday.

“Full-scale removal (from the accident-stricken unit) is a very important process in moving ahead with the plant’s decommissioning,” Tepco spokesman Masayuki Ono told a press conference, adding that the experience will be useful in dealing with the three other units that were damaged in the 2011 nuclear crisis.

The unit 4 spent fuel pool contains 1,331 spent fuel assemblies and 202 unused ones. Workers will begin with the removal of unused fuel assemblies, which are easier to handle.

Read moreTEPCO To Start Fuel Removal From Fukushima Reactor No. 4 Spent Fuel Pool Monday

Fukushima Reactor No. 4 SFP: Damaged Fuel Rods Cracked And Leaking Radioactive Gases

Damaged fuel rods are cracked and leaking radioactive gases in Fukushima Unit 4 pool; Wire appears trapped in racks — Another assembly bent when “mishandled during a transfer” (ENENews, Nov 14, 2013):

Japan Times, Nov. 14, 2013:  Earlier this week, Tepco found three damaged assemblies that will be difficult to remove, but officials said the damage appeared to have occurred before the March 11 disasters.

Reuters, Nov. 14, 2013: One of the assemblies was damaged as far back as 1982, when it was mishandled during a transfer, and is bent out of shape, Tepco said in a brief note at the bottom of an 11-page information sheet in August. In a statement from April 2010, Tepco said it found two other spent fuel racks in the reactor’s cooling pool had what appeared to be wire trapped in them. Rods in those assemblies have pin-hole cracks and are leaking low-level radioactive gases, Tepco spokesman Yoshikazu Nagai told Reuters on Thursday. […] Having to deal with the damaged assemblies is likely to make [removing the other fuel] more difficult […]

Tepco spokeswoman Mayumi Yoshida: “The three fuel assemblies … cannot be transported by cask […] We are currently reviewing how to transport these fuel assemblies to the common spent fuel pool,” she said.

Related info:

Fukushima Reactor No. 4 SFP Fuel Rods Deformed, One ‘Bent At 90-Degree Angle’

Fukushima Reactor No. 4 SFP Fuel Rods Deformed, One ‘Bent At 90-Degree Angle’

So all it takes is just one ‘little mistake’ or a large (HAARP induced) earthquake and we are all (as good as) dead.

But, luckily for us, TEPCO is fully aware of the unprecedented danger for the entire planet and has the best experts at hand to remove the fuel rods:

Tepco To Train Amateurs To Remove Fuel Rods From Fukushima Reactor No. 4 SFP … Failure Could Result In BILLIONS Of Deaths

What could possibly go wrong?



Fukushima Unit 4 Spent Fuel Pool on Nov. 7, 2013 (Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg)

Multiple assemblies ‘deformed’ in Fukushima Unit 4 pool — One “bent at a 90-degree angle” — Tepco: Mistake occurred when handling the fuel… 25 years ago (ENENews, Nov 14, 2013):

Yomiuri Shimbun translated by EXSKF, Nov. 12, 2013: On November 12, TEPCO disclosed that there were three fuel assemblies […] in the Spent Fuel Pool of Reactor 4 […] that were deformed and would be difficult to remove.

Fukushima Minyu translated by EXSKF, Nov. 13, 2013: According to TEPCO, one of the damaged fuel assemblies is bent at a 90-degree angle [literal meaning: bent in the shape of a Japanese character “?”; actual angle could be less]. It was bent 25 years ago when a mistake occurred in handling the fuel. The other two were found to be damaged 10 years ago; there are small holes on the outside from foreign objects.

Read moreFukushima Reactor No. 4 SFP Fuel Rods Deformed, One ‘Bent At 90-Degree Angle’

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 (VIDEO)

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 (VIDEO) (ENENews, Nov 8, 2013):

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.

Read moreBBC: ‘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 (VIDEO)

Why Is TEPCO ‘Speeding Up’ The Fukushima Reactor No. 4 SFP Fuel Rod Removal?

Why are they ‘speeding up’ at Unit 4? — Expert in 2010: Megathrust quake to hit Fukushima ~Nov. 2013… Recurrence interval of 75 years with last rupture Nov. 1938 — Planet’s most powerful type of seismic event — WSJ: Top official concerned quake to destabilize fuel pool (ENENews, Oct 31, 2013):

Wall St. Journal, October 30, 2013 (Emphasis Added): Tepco will remove about 1,300 spent fuel rods and 200 new fuel rods […] the 4 meter-long rods will be pulled out of the pool at a time, is considered unprecedented in its scale. Shunichi Tanaka, chairman of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, has expressed concerns about the fragile state of the nuclear fuel left in three reactors and the spent fuel pool in the No.4 building. If improperly handled or destabilized by another major earthquake at the site, the fuel could discharge large amounts of radiation into the environment. […]

  • Kyodo, Oct. 2013: “Tepco plans to start removing nuclear fuel from the spent-fuel pool at the top of the reactor 4 building at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 plant as early as Nov. 8, about a week earlier than scheduled
  • Euronews, June 2013: “The Japanese government along with the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) are aiming to speed up the removal of spent fuel rods”
  • NHK, Dec. 2012: “Due to concerns over the ability of the destroyed reactor building to withstand earthquake activity as well as emergency operations, TEPCO has decided to speed up operations one year ahead of schedule to remove the spent nuclear fuel”

Read moreWhy Is TEPCO ‘Speeding Up’ The Fukushima Reactor No. 4 SFP Fuel Rod Removal?

Fukushima Readies For Dangerous Operation To Remove 400 Tons Of Spent Fuel – ‘The Worst-Case Scenario Could Play Out In DEATH TO BILLIONS OF PEOPLE. A True APOCALYPSE’

From the article:

“The operation to begin removing fuel from such a severely damaged pool has never been attempted before. The rods are unwieldy and very heavy, each one weighing two-thirds of a ton,” fallout researcher Christina Consolo earlier told RT.

Should the attempt fail, a mishandled rod could be exposed to air and catch fire, resulting in horrific quantities of radiation released into the atmosphere. The resulting radiation will be too great for the cooling pool to absorb as it simply has not been designed to do so.

In the worst-case scenario, the pool could come crashing to the ground, dumping the rods together into a pile that could fission and cause an explosion many times worse than in March 2011.

“The worst-case scenario could play out in death to billions of people. A true apocalypse,” Consolo said.

Fukushima readies for dangerous operation to remove 400 tons of spent fuel (RT, Oct 23, 2013):

Fukushima operator TEPCO is getting ready for its toughest and the most dangerous clean-up operation. In November it will try to remove 400 tons of spent fuel from plant’s Reactor No. 4. But even a little mistake may result in a new nuclear disaster.

The operation is scheduled to start in the beginning of November and be completed by around the end of 2014.

Under normal circumstances, the operation to remove all the fuel would take about 100 days. TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Co) initially planned to take two years, but reduced the schedule to one year in recognition of the urgency, as even a minor earthquake could trigger an uncontrolled fuel leak.

Read moreFukushima Readies For Dangerous Operation To Remove 400 Tons Of Spent Fuel – ‘The Worst-Case Scenario Could Play Out In DEATH TO BILLIONS OF PEOPLE. A True APOCALYPSE’

Heavy Rains Overflow Barriers Surrounding Fukushima Water Tanks

Heavy rains overflow barriers surrounding Fukushima water tanks (RT, Oct 20, 2013):

Water has overflowed at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is attempting to discern the quality of the water and possible radioactive substances which could have been spilled.

TEPCO announced on Monday that the water overflowed in 12 areas of the plant.

Heavy rains caused water to flow over the barriers of an artificial embankment which surrounds a dozen tanks of radioactive water at the plant. TEPCO reported that liquid containing a source of beta radiation was found beyond the levees.

Read moreHeavy Rains Overflow Barriers Surrounding Fukushima Water Tanks

Fukushima Is Collapsing – The Worst Is Coming … (Video)


YouTube Added: 17.10.2013

Description:

Paul Gunter, Beyond Nuclear, joins Thom Hartmann. There are new concerns coming out of Japan – as the stricken Number 4 reactor at the Daichii nuclear power plant is on the verge of collapsing. How is TEPCO responding to this newest threat – and can they stop a complete nuclear disaster?

Related info:

Fukushima: While No One Is Watching Humanity Faces The Most Dangerous Situation Ever

‘The Greatest Threat Humanity Has Ever Faced’: Fukushima Reactor No. 4 SFP ‘An Immediate Problem’ – Building Is Sinking, Over 30 Inches In Places:

The leakage of water from these cores is bad enough but the most dangerous thing is the cooling pool of unit 4. Now it is terribly dangerous because the entire hot core of reactor 4 had been removed and put in this cooling pool shortly before the tsunami. So, there was a hot core in this cooling pool the entire superstructure building was blown off in a hydrogen explosion.

The entire area is weakened and there is a great risk of an aftershock. Now this pool contains something on the order of 400.000 kg of hot plutonium. So, the thing that people should be aware of is that TEPCO is going to begin attempting to remove these rods from this pool to some other type of storage. This has never been done with plutonium rods that have been out of a core for such a short period of time.

There is a great danger of a thermonuclear reaction if these rods become exposed to the air and the cooling pool itself is just barely containing the temperature levels of the core as it is.

The media coverage of the situation has been almost non-existent. The public must become engaged and the governments must become engaged because this is a global threat. They say that one microgram of plutonium could theoretically kill a person.

There are billion micrograms in a kilogram and there are 400.000 hot kilograms in this pool. So, if these rods combust, if the set of rods begins a thermonuclear reaction, it will vaporize the water in the pool and the entire pool can become an uncontrolled nuclear reaction open to the air. These particles will be spread through the northern hemisphere.

This is perhaps the greatest threat humanity has ever faced. And I think you would acknowledge there has been far too little attention given to this at this point and the measures that the Japanese government is discussing at this point are not sufficient, I believe. Other governments must become engaged in this.

Fukushima Is Falling Apart: Are You Ready … For A Mass Extinction Event?

TECPO Admits Soaring Radiation Levels In Fukushima Groundwater, ‘Strontium Readings Spike 6,500-Fold In 1 Day’

Tepco admits “radiation levels in groundwater are soaring” at Fukushima — “Strontium readings spike 6,500-fold in one day” (VIDEO) (ENENews, Oct 18, 2013):

The Japan Times, Oct 18, 2013: Strontium readings spike 6,500-fold in one day […] Radiation levels in groundwater under Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant are soaring, Tepco said Friday after taking samples from an observation well. Tepco said 400,000 becquerels per liter of beta ray-emitting substances such as strontium were detected in water sampled Thursday from the well […] The level of becquerels, a record high for water in that well, was up 6,500-fold from the 61 becquerels found Wednesday. Tepco was planning to pump groundwater up […] before the water flows into the damaged reactor buildings and becomes heavily contaminated with radioactive materials. But that plan appears in jeopardy because the sharp increase in the levels of radioactive materials in the observation well suggest the radioactive groundwater is spreading. […] It is believed some 400 tons of radioactive groundwater is flowing into the Pacific daily. […]

NHK, Oct. 18, 2013: They also said the level of radioactive tritium also tripled to the highest-ever figure of 790,000 becquerels per liter.

Read moreTECPO Admits Soaring Radiation Levels In Fukushima Groundwater, ‘Strontium Readings Spike 6,500-Fold In 1 Day’

Fukushima Beta-Radiation Levels Soar To New Record In Aftermath Of Typhoon Wipha (400,000 Becquerels Per Liter Detected)

Fukushima Beta-Radiation Levels Soar To New Record In Aftermath Of Typhoon Wipha (ZeroHedge, Oct 17, 2013):

It is only fitting that on the day the Stalingrad & Poorski 500 rises to a new record high, that that other centrally-planned catastrophe, the exploded Fukushima nuclear power plant, in the aftermath of Japan’s Radioactivetyphoonado reports a completely different record: namely the level of beta radiation levels at Fukushima. Bloomberg notes that the nationalized utility Tepco, which has taken denial to a different superstring dimension altogether, has detected beta radiation levels of 400,000 becquerels per liter in a water sample taken yesterday from a monitoring well near storage tank area H4 at Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant. This was the highest reading on record. This number compares to Beta radiation levels of 61 Bq/L in the sample taken Oct. 16 and 90 Bq/L in the Oct. 15 sample.

Japan Times has more:

The highest level yet of beta ray-emitting radioactive substances, including strontium, has been detected at one point in a drainage ditch at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant where measurements are regularly taken, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Thursday.

Read moreFukushima Beta-Radiation Levels Soar To New Record In Aftermath Of Typhoon Wipha (400,000 Becquerels Per Liter Detected)

UN: ‘Fukushima Radiation Worse Than Feared’ – Government And Tepco ‘Ignore’ Effects Of Radioactive Iodine

“Fukushima radiation worse than feared” — Gov’t and Tepco ‘ignore’ effects of radioactive iodine (VIDEO) (ENENews, Oct 13, 2013):

NHK WORLD, Oct. 12, 2013: UN panel: radiation dose may be underestimated […] Investigators from the UN Scientific Committee of Atomic Radiation […] raised doubts about estimates by the Japanese government and [TEPCO] […] The UN committee found the Japanese government and TEPCO ignored the effects of radioactive iodine. […]

Reuters (via Al Jazeera), Oct. 13, 2013: UN: Fukushima radiation worse than feared […] the tests used on workers did not take into account some types of radiation. In particular, workers were tested for thyroid gland doses from radioactive iodine after a significant delay, through procedures that failed to account for iodine-132 and iodine-133, which have half-lives of two hours and 20 hours respectively. […] Increased radiation exposure has been linked to greater rates of cancer and thyroid disorders.

Read moreUN: ‘Fukushima Radiation Worse Than Feared’ – Government And Tepco ‘Ignore’ Effects Of Radioactive Iodine

Nearly Half Of 350 Fukushima Radiation Water Tanks Won’t Last For 5 Years

Nearly half of 350 contaminated water tanks can’t even last for 5 years (Fukushima, Oct 10, 2013):

According to the report that Tepco submitted to Nuclear Regulation Authority, about half of the flange type tanks can’t last for 5 years.

Flange type tanks are easy to build. In order to catch up with the rapidly increasing contaminated water, Tepco is building this type of tanks instead of the welded tanks. However, these are more vulnerable to leak. Currently there are 350 flange type tanks in Fukushima nuclear plant area.

Normally flange type tanks last for 5 years. However, because some of them were provisionally built, they last shorter than 5 years.

Read moreNearly Half Of 350 Fukushima Radiation Water Tanks Won’t Last For 5 Years

‘Cold Shutdown’ In Japan: Fukushima Radiation Levels Hit 2-Year High

Flashback:

Japan Declares Fukushima Nuke Plant Has Reached Stable State Of ‘Cold Shutdown’

Japan Government: Fukushima Nuclear Plant In State Of Cold Shutdown! – Minister Hosono: ‘No One Knows Where The Fuel Is’

And Now: TEPCO REDEFINES Cold Shutdown! – Plugging Of Reactor Holes Dropped From TEPCO’s Roadmap!

TEPCO’s ‘Cold Shutdown’ Lie And What They ‘Forgot’ To Tell You About Fukushima (May 3, 2011):

Cold shutdown” means the reactor cores – and the used fuel pools – decrease in temperature through 100 degrees C and continue to go down after a couple of days without additional cooling.  If that doesn’t happen within 48 hours, it isn’t going to.  E-V-E-R. The reactors are still ‘in service’ – which means the fuel is still reacting.  It hasn’t happened at Fukushima and it never will.


Fukushima Radiation Levels Hit 2-Year High (RT, Oct 10, 2013):

Seawater just outside one of Japan’s damaged Fukushima Daiichi reactors registered radiation levels on Wednesday 13 times the previous day’s reading, the operator of the crippled nuclear plant said on Thursday.

Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), said combined Cesium-134 and Cesium-137 readings just outside the damaged No. 2 reactor jumped to 1,200 becquerels per liter on Wednesday, the highest levels recorded since late 2011.

Regulatory limits for Cesium, which emits powerful gamma radiation and is potentially fatal to humans, is 90 bq/liter for Cesium-137 and 60 bq/liter for Cesium-134.

Read more‘Cold Shutdown’ In Japan: Fukushima Radiation Levels Hit 2-Year High

Fukushima Workers Doused With Highly Radioactive Water: 37,000,000 Becquerels Per Liter – ‘Several Tons’ Leaked

Fukushima workers doused with highly radioactive water — 37,000,000 becquerels per liter — ‘Several tons’ reported to have leaked (VIDEO) (ENENews, Oct 9, 2013):

NHK WORLD, Oct. 9, 2013: […] The Nuclear Regulation Authority says at least 6 workers were sprayed with the contaminated water and are being checked for radiation exposure. The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, says the workers mistakenly detached a water pipe from a joint near a desalination device on Wednesday morning. The accident caused contaminated water to leak for about 50 minutes. […] The water is highly radioactive, containing 37 million becquerels of beta ray-emitting material per liter. […] Worker errors have been occurring frequently at the Fukushima Daiichi plant […]

AFP, Oct. 9, 2013: Six Fukushima workers doused with radioactive water […] The fluid splashed onto the men when they accidently removed a pipe connected to the system, Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) said. […]

Read moreFukushima Workers Doused With Highly Radioactive Water: 37,000,000 Becquerels Per Liter – ‘Several Tons’ Leaked

World Must Act To Stop Fukushima Nuclear Discharge (China Daily)

World must act to stop Fukushima nuclear discharge (China Daily, Oct 5, 2013):

The devastating earthquake in northeastern Japan two years ago caused a nuclear leak at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. In July 2012, Alaskan seals exhibited inexplicable hemorrhage phenomena and signs of immunity deficiency. Scientists suspected the condition had something to do with Japan’s discharge of nuclear sewage, or radioactive water, into the Pacific Ocean. However, no evidence has yet confirmed that suspicion. The Japanese government has proposed to take measures to clean up the post-disaster nuclear waste by the end of March 2014. To this point, they have been simply dumping it into the sea.

On Aug 7, 2013, Japan’s Nuclear Disaster Countermeasures Headquarters said the daily discharge into the sea was nearly 300 tons. Research analysis shows that underground water is polluted and therefore radioactive discharge cannot be avoided. Currently, the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) are considering pumping underground water into the area to reduce the discharge. By September 2014, the volume of pumped sewage will be 40,000 tons.

Estimates show that the daily outflow of underground water around Fukushima’s four nuclear units is 1,000 tons, of which 400 tons flows under the reactors. Of the other 600 tons, 300 tons flows through tunnels between the plants, polluted by the highly concentrated sewage, and then flows into the sea. The remaining 300 tons runs into the sea without pollution. TEPCO is trying to prevent more polluted water reaching the sea, via a new relief project, to reduce daily discharge to 60 tons.

Read moreWorld Must Act To Stop Fukushima Nuclear Discharge (China Daily)

Top Nuclear Official: Fukushima ‘Causing Irreversible Radioactive Damage To The Environment’ – TEPCO’s Management Standards ‘Extremely Low’ And ‘Significantly Deteriorating’

‘Significantly Deteriorating’: Fukushima disaster “causing irreversible radioactive damage” says top nuclear official — Tepco now admits it’s “affecting the environment” (VIDEO) (ENENews. Oct 4, 2013):

Kyodo, Oct. 4, 2013: Summoning Tepco President Naomi Hirose after a series of recent spills at the crippled power plant, Katsuhiko Ikeda, head of the NRA secretariat, tore into the utility for “rudimentary mistakes” that caused the toxic water problem and said its management in the field was “significantly deteriorating.”

Euronews, Oct. 4, 2013: Katsuhiko Ikeda, Secretary-General of the Nuclear Regulatory Agency [said] “I must say that the on-site management at TEPCO’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant is becoming extremely poor.”

AAP, Oct. 4, 2013: “I can’t help but say that standards of on-site management are extremely low at Fukushima Daiichi,” [Katsuhiko Ikeda, Secretary-General of the Nuclear Regulatory Agency] said.

Xinhua, Oct. 4, 2013: Ikeda insisted the utility formulate an immediate strategy to deal with the latest crisis and slammed TEPCO’s management for its extremely poor organizational and practical systems that have led to human error causing irreversible radioactive damage to the environment. […]

NHK Newsline, Oct. 4, 2013: “I’m terribly sorry for the mistakes we have made. We mishandled the leaking wastewater, and that is affecting the environment.” – Naomi Hirose, Tepco President

Watch NHK’s broadcast here

Fukushima Leak Much More Radioactive Than Claimed: Almost 20,000 Times The Legal Limit – Nuclear Official: ‘They Seem To Lack Even The Most Basic Knowledge About Radiation’

Fukushima leak is much more radioactive than Tepco claimed — Almost 20,000 times the legal limit flowed into ocean — Nuclear Official: “They seem to lack even the most basic knowledge about radiation” (ENENews, Oct 3, 2013):

Japan Times, Oct. 3, 2013 (Emphasis Added): New spill at No. 1 laid to typhoon miscalculation […] Authorities are still groping for a solution to the water crisis at the crippled nuclear plant, which is rapidly running out of storage space and facing a growing risk of flooding from typhoons. […] The water contained strontium and tritium and was emitting beta-ray radiation of 580,000 becquerels per liter, according to Tepco, which was apparently trying to drain rainwater from the flood containment area into the tanks during the typhoon. […]

Previous reports of 200,000 Bq/liter

Kyodo News, Oct. 3, 2013: Tepco said Wednesday it detected 200,000 becquerels per liter of beta ray-emitting radioactive substances, including strontium-90, far above the legal limit of 30 becquerels per liter […]

NBC News, Oct. 3, 2013: Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, said the water which spilled from the storage tanks had radiation readings as high as 200,000 becquerels per liter — almost 6,700 times higher than the legal limit of 30 becquerels.

Tepco not sure how to even measure the radioactivity, let alone contain it?

Associated Press, Oct 3, 2013: In recent meetings, regulators criticized TEPCO for even lacking basic skills to properly measure radioactivity […] “As far as TEPCO people on our contaminated water and sea monitoring panels are concerned, they seem to lack even the most basic knowledge about radiation,” said a Nuclear Regulation Authority commissioner Kayoko Nakamura, a radiologist. “I really think they should acquire adequate expertise and commitment needed for the job,” she said.

See also: Kaku: “Tepco… like the 3 stooges operating a nuclear power plant, Moe, Larry and Curly chasing each other around the control room hitting each other over

Leaking Water Storage Tanks At Fukushima Were ‘Hastily Built’ And With Little Concern For Safety

Leaking water storage tanks at Fukushima ‘hastily built’ (Telegraph, Sep 2, 2013):

Storage tanks at the Fukushima nuclear plant to hold radioactive water were constructed in haste and with little concern for safety, according to a member of an emergency team that built the tanks.

The whistleblower told Kyodo News that it was feared even while construction was going on that the steel tanks would leak.

Read moreLeaking Water Storage Tanks At Fukushima Were ‘Hastily Built’ And With Little Concern For Safety

‘Cold Shutdown In Japan’: Steam Rising Out Of Reactor 3 AGAIN, No Explanation Given So Far

Steam found coming up from the top of reactor3 again / Reason is not verified yet (Fukushima Diary, Sep 20, 2013):

Fukushima Diary reported steam was found coming up from the top of reactor3 on 9/17/2013.

(cf, [Steam after typhoon] “Steam” observed from the top of reactor3 again / humidity was only 53% [URL])

According to Tepco, the “steam” was observed coming up from the same location of reactor3 around 8AM of 9/18/2013 again. It wasn’t seen by 10AM.

In the secretariat meeting for Fukushima decommissioning on 8/29/2013, Prof. Yamana from Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute stated Tepco needs to investigate what is actually discharged as the “steam” such Tritium. However, no analysis data has been published yet.

(cf, Kyoto Uni Prof. “Tritium might be discharged directly from the reactor3 to the atmosphere” [URL])

http://www.tepco.co.jp/cc/press/2013/1230669_5117.html

http://www.tepco.co.jp/cc/press/2013/1230674_5117.html

Before:

[Steam after typhoon] “Steam” observed from the top of reactor3 again / humidity was only 53% (Fukushima Diary, Sep 17, 2013)

Steam observed coming up on the top of reactor3 again (Fukushima Diary, Sep 15, 2013)

Japan Meteorological Research Institute: ‘60,000,000,000 Bq of Cesium-137 And Strontium-90 Leaking Into Pacific Ocean Every Day’

Japan Meteorological Research Institute “60,000,000,000 Bq of Cs-137 and Sr-90 is leaking to the open ocean everyday” (Fukushima Diary, Sep 19, 2013):

In IAEA session from 9/17~9/18/2013, researcher Aoyama from Japan Meteorological Research Institute reported 60,000,000,000 Bq of Cs-137 and Sr-90 is leaking to the open ocean every single day. (30,000,000,000 Bq of Cs-137 and 30,000,000,000 Bq of Sr-90)

The daily discharging rate has almost not been decreased since the beginning of 2012.

Related article..Tepco admitted leaked radiation is diluted outside of Fukushima plant port [URL]

http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/Meetings/PDFplus/2013/cn207/Presentations/1028-Aoyama.pdf

http://www-pub.iaea.org/iaeameetings/43050/Scientific-Forum-The-Blue-Planet-Nuclear-Applications-for-a-Sustainable-Marine-Environment