The level of beta ray-emitting radioactivity in groundwater around the crippled Fukushima reactor No. 2 reactor has been rising since November, NHK reported.
Previous the highest level – 1.8 million becquerels (bq/liter), of beta-ray sources per liter - was registered at reactor No.1 on December 13.
Meanwhile, TEPCO’s latest examination of deeper groundwater beneath the #4 reactor's well has raised new concerns that there might be another source of radioactive substances leakage into the ocean.
For the first time, the analysis of water samples taken from a layer 25 meters beneath the No. 4 reactor's well that is facing the ocean has revealed radioactivity in groundwater.
TEPCO investigators detected 6.7 bq/liter of Cesium 137 and 89 bq/liter of strontium as well as other beta ray-emitting radioactive substances.
However, the company’s officials said that it is early to talk about a hotspot of radiation leak and more examinations are needed to prove that. TEPCO suggested that current numbers could be wrong because radioactive substances may have been mistakenly mixed during the process of getting the sample.
Leakage of radiation-contaminated water has been the major threat to Japan’s population and environment from the very beginning of the Fukushima disaster in March 2011.
Only in late July 2013 did TEPCO acknowledge the fact that contaminated water is escaping from basements and trenches of the Fukushima plant into the ocean.
Since then, TEPCO reported about two major leaks of highly radioactive water into the ocean from storage tanks – a 300-ton leak in August and 430 liters in October.
rt.com
21/12/13
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Water decontamination system halted at Fukushima plant...
ΑπάντησηΔιαγραφήTOKYO —The operator of Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant said Wednesday it has temporarily shut down a decontamination system that scrubs radiation-tainted water used to cool damaged reactors.
Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) said it had discovered a defect in its Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) and switched it off on Tuesday for repairs.
It is not the first time the utility has shut down the system, which has been hit by a series of glitches since trial operations began a year ago.
“We don’t know yet when we can resume operating the system as we have not detected the cause of the defect yet,” a TEPCO spokeswoman told AFP. “But we still have room to store toxic water so there is no immediate concern.”
TEPCO is struggling to handle a huge—and growing—volume of contaminated water at the tsunami-damaged plant. There are about 436,000 cubic meters of contaminated water stored at the site in about 1,200 purpose-built tanks.
Many experts say that at some point the water will have to be released into the sea after being scoured of the most harmful contaminants. They say it will pose a negligible risk to marine life or people, but local fishermen and neighboring countries are fiercely opposed.
© 2014 AFP
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/tepco-halts-water-decontamination-system-at-fukushima-plant
19/3/14