Εμφάνιση αναρτήσεων με ετικέτα Fukushima. Εμφάνιση όλων των αναρτήσεων
Εμφάνιση αναρτήσεων με ετικέτα Fukushima. Εμφάνιση όλων των αναρτήσεων
Δευτέρα 21 Νοεμβρίου 2016
Σεισμός 7,1 Ρίχτερ κοντά στην Φουκουσίμα
Δευτέρα 5 Ιανουαρίου 2015
Fukushima rice tests ‘radiation free’ first time since disaster
Virtually all of the rice harvested in Fukushima in 2014 – or some 360,000 tonnes – has been checked for radiation and met the national standards of less than 100 Becquerel’s per kilogram, Reuters reports.
"The fact that the amount of rice that does not pass our checks has steadily reduced in the last three years indicates that we're taking the right steps," said Fukushima official Tsuneaki Oonam, who heads the department that oversees Fukushima rice farming.
Authorities began testing all rice grown in Fukushima prefecture in 2012, although the amounts harvested over the past years were insignificant. More 190 testing devices are used throughout the prefecture to ensure rice’s safety standards.
For the last 2 years, some 10 million bags of rice were checked annually. In 2012, 71 bags were found to exceed the safety standards, while in 2013, 28 bags were over the standard, the Asahi Shimbun reports. Rice farmers, according to the newspaper, succeeded in changing the fertilizer used so that radioactive cesium is not absorbed by the rice plant.
Rice that passes the Food Sanitation Law standards, is labeled as such. Those bags with radiation readings are destroyed. Despite the promise of getting a clean over-all reading, Fukushima prefecture plans to continue the radiation testing program.
Japan exported its first rice following the disaster last August – a 300-kilogram batch was delivered to Singapore. Fruit exports to Malaysia also resumed last year, according to officials, while in 2012 Fukushima peaches and apples were exported to Thailand.
http://rt.com/news/219799-fukushima-rice-radiation-free/5/1/15-
Σάββατο 20 Δεκεμβρίου 2014
First of four Fukushima reactors cleared of nuclear fuel (VIDEO aljazeera)
It was a significant step in the decommissioning efforts, but workers still have three heavily crippled reactors to clean up after they were sent into meltdown in the 2011 quake-tsunami disaster. The overall clean-up work of the Fukushima plant is expected to take decades.
A total of 1,535 fuel rod assemblies have been now taken out of the building after Tokyo Electric Power Co's (TEPCO's) year-long operation, a company spokesman said. "Completion of the removal work is a milestone, but the decommission work will continue," plant chief Akira Ono told reporters.
The nuclear fuel was removed from a pool used to store the rods - which were mostly spent - in the reactor number 4 building, which was offline for regular check-ups at the time of the March 2011 disaster.
The tsunami battered the plant's cooling system and sent reactors number 1 to 3 into meltdown, setting off the worst atomic accident in a generation.
TEPCO will remove fuel rod assemblies from the pools of other damaged buildings before extracting the melted fuel from the reactors.
- AFP/al
[channelnewsasia.com]
20/12/14
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Παρασκευή 5 Δεκεμβρίου 2014
Fresh lawsuit filed against planned restart of nuclear reactors in Japan
The nine people, who are from Fukui, Kyoto and Osaka prefectures, claimed that there is an "actual and looming risk" of nuclear accidents, and requested the Fukui District Court to call off the planned restart of four reactors at Takahama and Oi nuclear plants.
Takahama and Oi nuclear plants are both located in Fukui Prefecture. Both plants' No. 3 and No. 4 reactors are currently undergoing safety screening of the Nuclear Regulation Authority for resuming operation.
The Fukui District Court ruled in May that the Oi nuclear plant shall not be restarted. But another district court made a contradictory ruling last month, rejecting a demand by citizens seeking suspension of possible resumption of Takahama and Oi plants.
Currently, all nuclear reactors in Japan remain offline. Power utilities are desperate to bring nuclear plants back online due to high costs of thermal power generation, while public concerns over nuclear safety are still strong.
Source: Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
5/12/14
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Πέμπτη 27 Νοεμβρίου 2014
Japanese court rejects citizens' demand for suspension of nuclear reactor restart
The residents, from Shiga Prefecture, claimed that there are many geological faults around the two plants which might cause earthquakes and tsunamis, and that severe nuclear accidents might occur such as in the 2011 Fukushima crisis.
The Otsu District Court in Shiga Prefecture rejected the residents' demand for suspension of restart of the reactors, and said it is "unlikely" that the safety regulator will make a hasty decision to allow the reactors to restart.
Takahama and Oi nuclear plants are both located in Fukui Prefecture, which lies to the north of Shiga Prefecture. Both plants' No. 3 and No. 4 reactors are currently undergoing safety screening by the Nuclear Regulation Authority for resuming operation.
Kansai Electric Power Co., operator of the two plants, said the court decision is "reasonable" and it will seek to restart the nuclear plants "as soon as possible" after safety confirmed by the regulator.
- Currently, all nuclear reactors in Japan remain offline. Power utilities are desperate to bring nuclear plants back online as their earnings are deteriorating due to high costs for thermal power generation, while public concerns over nuclear safety are still strong.
Sources: Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
27/11/14
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Παρασκευή 7 Νοεμβρίου 2014
Japan to restart 2 nuclear reactors despite local opposition, safety concerns
Clearance for the Nos. 1 and 2 reactors at Kyushu Electric Power Co.'s Sendai plant in the prefecture was given Friday by Ito and the assembly, with the governor telling a news conference that while he effectively had "no choice" in the matter, the restart was "essential" and that Japan's nuclear watchdog had approved the reactors' safety standards and compliance.
Further safety inspections will be carried out by Japan's nuclear regulators, but pending final checks the two reactors are scheduled to be brought back online early next year, marking the first restart since the nuclear meltdowns, the worst of their kind since Chernobyl in 1986, at the Fukushima Daiichi complex in the northeast of Japan in March 2011.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the move was a positive step forward in bringing the idled plants back online and the government favors resuming generating nuclear power as fossil fuel imports for thermal generators are weighing heavily on the government's balance sheet.
- However, not all residents in Satsumasendai city, which host the two reactors, supported the restart, with a solid contingent adamant that the plant remains unsafe and that local prefectural officials should be ashamed of complying so easily to the central government's wishes, instead of prioritizing their own communities.
- Among some of the arguments voiced is the fact that the Sendai plant is located in a seismically active region with numerous active volcanic sites, and concerns are raised over the eruption of a nearby volcano.
While Ito said all evacuation plans and scenarios are "concrete and rational," what is considered "local approval" for the reactors to be restarted has been called into question, as Satsumasendai's neighboring villages and towns have no legal say on the matter.
In September, the NRA initially granted its approval to restart the two reactors at the Sendai plant, stating that the plant was first in line for being restarted, out of the 48 idled reactors nationwide.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been a staunch supporter of bringing the nation's nuclear power stations back online, as a weak yen, punctuated more so since Japan's central bank expanded its monetary easing program last week, forcing the currency to seven-year lows versus its major counterparts, has continued to push up the price of Japan's fuel imports, like liquified natural gas and coal, used to compensate for the lack of atomic energy.
Source:Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
7/11/14
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Japan local assembly okays restart of two reactors
A majority of Kagoshima assembly members voted for the motion to resume operations at the Sendai plant in the southern Japanese prefecture, officials said. The move leaves as an obstacle only the formal approval of Kagoshima's powerful governor, which is expected later in the day, and marks a victory for the pro-nuclear government of Shinzo Abe in its campaign to re-fire atomic plants.
The assembly's approval came after the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) confirmed it believed the two units met toughened safety standards introduced after the Fukushima accident. Television footage showed about a dozen protesters in the public gallery of the assembly hall chanting "We oppose the restart". Governor Yuichiro Ito, who has the final say, is expected to announce his support later on Friday.
The actual restart, however, is likely to be delayed until next year as technical procedures are still under way, including more NRA approvals for remedial work at the site.
Following the tsunami-sparked catastrophe at Fukushima, Japan's entire stable of nuclear reactors were gradually switched off. Two were briefly restarted in 2012 but their power-down last September heralded an entirely nuclear-free Japan. While Prime Minister Abe's government and much of industry is keen to get back to atomic generation - largely because of the soaring costs of dollar denominated fossil fuels to an economy with a plunging currency - the public is unconvinced.
Communities living right next door to nuclear plants, who often enjoy grants from utility companies and depend on the power stations for employment, are frequently sympathetic to restarts. However, there is hostility from those living further afield who enjoy no direct benefits but see themselves as in the firing line in the event of another accident like Fukushima.
Permission from local representatives will be good news for pro-nuclear Abe, who has set his heart on persuading his wary electorate that the world's third largest economy must return to an energy source that once supplied more than a quarter of its power.
Fukushima was the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. It forced tens of thousands of people from their homes, with many of them still displaced amid warnings some areas might have to be abandoned forever.
- AFP/nd
channelnewsasia.com
7/11/14
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Τετάρτη 29 Οκτωβρίου 2014
Japan to reopen 1st nuclear plant after Fukushima disaster - despite volcano risks
Nineteen out of 26 members of the city council of Satsumasendai approved the reopening that is scheduled to take place from early 2015. Like all of Japan’s 48 functional reactors, Sendai’s 890 MW generators were mothballed in the months following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Satsumasendai, a town of 100,000 people, relies heavily on state subsidies and jobs, which are dependent on the continuing operation of the plant.
But other towns, located within sight of the plant, do not reap the same benefits, yet say they are being exposed to the same risks. A survey conducted by the local Minami-Nippon Shimbun newspaper earlier this year said that overall, 60 percent of those in the region were in favor of Sendai staying shut. In Ichikikushikino, a 30,000-strong community just 5 kilometers away, more than half of the population signed a petition opposing the restart. Fewer than half of the major businesses in the region reported that they backed a reopening, despite potential economic benefits.
Regional governor Yuichiro Ito has waved away the objections, insisting that only the city in which the plant is located is entitled to make the decision.
While most fears have centered around a lack of transparency and inadequate evacuation plans, Sendai is also located near the volcanically active Kirishima mountain range. Mount Ioyama, located just 65 kilometers away from the plant, has been experiencing tremors in recent weeks, prompting the Meteorological Agency to issue a warning. The government’s nuclear agency has dismissed volcanic risks over Sendai’s lifetime as “negligible,” however.................http://rt.com/news/200175-sendai-fukushima-nuclear-volcano/
28/10/14
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Κυριακή 5 Οκτωβρίου 2014
Only 26-meter tsunami could now damage Fukushima – (TEPCO)
Officials from the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) have nearly doubled the previous projected tsunami height that would inundate the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant – raising it from 14 to 26.3 meters, Asahi Shimbun reported on Saturday.
The flood caused by such a tsunami would “likely cause seawater to mingle with the radiation-tainted water accumulating in the basements of the reactor buildings at the six-unit plant, allowing 100 trillion becquerels of cesium to escape,” The Japan Times reported, citing TEPCO officials.
- However, TEPCO officials noted that such a strong tsunami occurs only once every 10,000 to 100,000 years.
The operator also increased the scale of a potential earthquake that would damage the plant by 1.5 times to 900 gals, media reported.
The company’s statement made on Friday comes in response to a demand made by Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) for the operator to review tsunami counter-measures. The authority is to decide whether TEPCO’s figures are suitable.
Following the March 2011 earthquake that triggered a 15.5 meter tsunami and hit the Fukushima Daiichi plant – causing three nuclear core meltdowns – the NRA obliged other facilities to strengthen tsunami counter-measures and raise the scale of the highest tsunami protection. But the new regulation did not apply to Fukushima, which is over 40 years old, as the plant was to be decommissioned.
As a measure to reduce the impact of a potential hit by a huge seismic wave, TEPCO said it will cut the quantity of radioactive water stored on the premises of the facility. Thus, the amount of radioactive water leaked into the ocean would be reduced by 30 percent, Asahi reported.
In the wake of the 2011 tragedy, Japan shut down all its nuclear reactors. However, the Japanese government has been keen on the nuclear restart, insisting that the reactors are necessary to provide cheaper energy to the economically-challenged Asian nation.............Will Typhoon Phanfone affect Fukushima?........http://rt.com/news/193364-tsunami-damage-fukushima-tepco/
5/10/14
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Σάββατο 4 Οκτωβρίου 2014
Fukushima To Be Hit By Typhoon, Causing Ocean Contamination (Tepco)
"The deluge would likely cause seawater to mingle with the radiation-tainted water accumulating in the basements of the reactor buildings at the six-unit plant, allowing 100 trillion becquerels of cesium to escape, according to an estimate that Tepco revealed Friday at a meeting of the Nuclear Regulation Authority," the Japan Times reports.
According to the media outlet, tidal waves from the storm are likely to reach a maximum height of 26.3 meters or more. The storm is likely to strike the Fukushima No.2 nuclear plant as well, but "its idled reactors and fuel pools" are not expected to be destroyed, Tepco officials assert.
- It should be noted that the 2011 tsunami reached a height of 15.5 meters when it hit the plant, which was followed by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake.
In order to minimize the impact of the hurricane, Tepco "will reduce the vast quantity of radioactive water" on the site, the Asahi Shimbun notes. Citing Tepco's officials, the media source claims that the amount of contaminated wate, which is expected to spill into the ocean, could be decreased to 30 percent "by filling in trenches near reactors."..................http://en.ria.ru/world/20141004/193667366/Fukushima-To-Be-Hit-By-Typhoon-Causing-Ocean-Contamination-Tepco.html4/10/14
Κυριακή 28 Σεπτεμβρίου 2014
Fukushima Water Treatment System Fails Again
According to the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the trouble could have been caused by faulty filters.
One of the three lines of the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) was turned off after the engineers found out that the water contains calcium, hindering the elimination of radioactive strontium.
Since March, the ALPS system at Fukushima has had a series of similar failures. TEPCO then replaced the filters and resumed the system operations, highlighting company's plans to set up another facility to treat the tainted water.
On March 11, 2011, the Fukushima nuclear power plant was hit by a powerful earthquake and a subsequent tsunami, which caused a partial meltdown of three of the plant's nuclear reactors as radiation leaked into the atmosphere, soil and sea.
The incident was the world's worst nuclear disaster since the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe.
Several areas within the 20-kilometer (12 miles) zone from the plant are still considered unfit for habitation due to the high levels of radioactive contamination.
TEPCO has been widely criticized for being inadequately prepared for a tsunami and for its slow response to the disaster.
Cleaning the toxic waste from the abandoned nuclear plant and reactors decommissioning have become the principal task of TEPCO, the process of disaster cleanup is expected to take at least 40 years.
en.ria.ru
27/9/14
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Παρασκευή 26 Σεπτεμβρίου 2014
South Africa nuclear plans 'huge risk'. (Greenpeace)
"As far as Greenpeace Africa is concerned, investing in new nuclear energy is actually going to put this country at risk," Melita Steele, senior climate and energy campaign manager for Greenpeace Africa, told Anadolu Agency in an interview.
On Monday, Russia and South Africa signed an agreement for the construction of new nuclear power plants as part of South Africa's procurement and development program.
The deal, signed in Vienna on the sidelines of an International Atomic Energy Agency conference, calls for the construction by Russia's state-owned nuclear company Rosatom of eight nuclear power units in South Africa.
Rosatom put the estimated cost of the project at between $40 billion and $50 billion.
Steele said that apart from the huge cost of building nuclear plants, there were no long term solutions for nuclear waste.
She cited Japan's 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, when nearly 120,000 people were evacuated from their homes – and still have yet to return – following a nuclear plant meltdown.
"As far as Greenpeace is concerned, investing in both coal and nuclear [energy] are nothing more than a dead end," said Steele.
"It [nuclear energy] will send this country into both electricity price crisis as well as electricity supply crisis," she insisted.
Greenpeace is an influential global advocacy group ostensibly devoted to protecting the environment.
-Renewable energy-
Steele urged the South African government to instead focus on renewable energy, such as solar and wind power.
"We think that, as far as the research we've done, South Africa has some of the best solar resources in the world," she told AA.
Steele saw no reason why South Africa should not become a climate leader.
South Africa currently generates almost 90 percent of its electricity from coal-fueled power stations.
Environmental groups say the use of coal has negative effects on human health and the ecosystem.
www.aa.com.tr/en
25/9/14
Δευτέρα 25 Αυγούστου 2014
Effectiveness of Fukushima Ice Wall Unclear to Experts
"As the water comes down the mountains towards the ocean, it's not clear to me that [TEPCO] really knows how it is going to move around that frozen barrier," former US Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman and the head of the international advisory panel to TEPCO Dr. Dale Klein said in an interview with VICE News, published Sunday.
Along with the other experts, Klein is worried by TEPCO not keeping the public informed about the dangers currently posed by the failed reactors. "They give off the perception that they're covering up something, when that isn't what they're doing at all," the analyst said.
TEPCO officials have repeatedly been accused of negligence and not sharing enough information with the public. Three months after the March 2011 catastrophe, The Wall Street Journal released a report based on interviews with TEPCO engineers, saying the company knew some of its reactors were incapable of withstanding a tsunami.
In August 2013, TEPCO admitted that 300 tons of highly radioactive water had leaked from the nuclear power plant, significantly more than the public was led to believe.
And early in August 2014, the company revealed that all the fuel rods in Fukushima Daiichi reactor three have apparently melted down, while in November, 2011, it was estimated that only 63 percent of the reactor’s fuel cord had melted.
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was severely damaged after a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami hit the plant in March 2011, leading to the extensive leakage of contaminated water into the surrounding environment.
The negative effects of the Fukushima nuclear disaster are still being felt. Last week, Fukushima Prefecture officials announced that the number of young people diagnosed with definitive or suspected thyroid cancer, a disease often caused by radiation exposure, has reached 104. To illustrate the negative effects the disaster has had on animals and insects, researchers cite the example of the pale grass blue butterfly, which has seen a reduction in size and an increased mortality rate in the region.
In June 2014, TEPCO began to erect a mile-long underground wall of ice around the damaged reactors to stop toxic water from leaking into the Pacific. Later that month the company said it was having trouble with the construction of the wall, as the pipes carrying the coolant were unable to freeze the ground. Still, in July TEPCO decided to move forward with the ice-wall plans, hoping to complete construction by March 2015.
http://en.ria.ru/world/20140825/192327162/Effectiveness-of-Fukushima-Ice-Wall-Unclear-to-Experts.html
25/8/14
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Παρασκευή 11 Ιουλίου 2014
Earthquake - Magnitude 6.8 - OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN - 2014 July 11, -local time: 04:22 -NO TSUNAMI THREAT
Japan's Meteorological Agency says the quake struck early Saturday 10 kilometres below the sea surface off the coast of Fukushima, northeast of Tokyo.
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Magnitude Mw 6.8
Region OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
Date time 2014-07-11 19:22:00.9 UTC
Location 37.13 N ; 142.40 E
Depth 10 km
Distances .......
- 185 km SE of Sendai-shi, Japan / pop: 1,037,562 / local time: 04:22:00.9 2014-07-12
- 130 km E of Namie, Japan / pop: 21,866 / local time: 04:22:00.9 2014-07-12
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M6.8 - 129km ESE of Namie, Japan
Event Time
- 2014-07-11 19:22:00 UTC
- 2014-07-12 04:22:00 UTC+09:00 at epicenter
- 2014-07-11 22:22:00 UTC+03:00 system time
Location
37.069°N 142.364°E depth=13.3km (8.2mi)Nearby Cities
- 129km (80mi) ESE of Namie, Japan
- 131km (81mi) E of Iwaki, Japan
- 147km (91mi) ENE of Kitaibaraki, Japan
- 151km (94mi) ENE of Takahagi, Japan
- 284km (176mi) ENE of Tokyo, Japan
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Tsunami Warnings
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TSUNAMI INFORMATION STATEMENT NUMBER 1
NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI
931 AM HST FRI JUL 11 2014
TO - CIVIL DEFENSE IN THE STATE OF HAWAII
SUBJECT - TSUNAMI INFORMATION STATEMENT
THIS STATEMENT IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY. NO ACTION REQUIRED.
AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS
ORIGIN TIME - 0921 AM HST 11 JUL 2014
COORDINATES - 37.0 NORTH 142.6 EAST
LOCATION - OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU JAPAN
MAGNITUDE - 6.8 MOMENT
EVALUATION
BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA A DESTRUCTIVE PACIFIC-WIDE TSUNAMI IS
NOT EXPECTED AND THERE IS NO TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII. REPEAT. A
DESTRUCTIVE PACIFIC-WIDE TSUNAMI IS NOT EXPECTED AND THERE IS NO
TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII.
THIS WILL BE THE ONLY STATEMENT ISSUED FOR THIS EVENT UNLESS
ADDITIONAL DATA ARE RECEIVED.---------------------------------------
TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 001
PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS
ISSUED AT 1930Z 11 JUL 2014
THIS BULLETIN APPLIES TO AREAS WITHIN AND BORDERING THE PACIFIC
OCEAN AND ADJACENT SEAS...EXCEPT ALASKA...BRITISH COLUMBIA...
WASHINGTON...OREGON AND CALIFORNIA.
... TSUNAMI INFORMATION BULLETIN ...
THIS BULLETIN IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY.
THIS BULLETIN IS ISSUED AS ADVICE TO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES. ONLY
NATIONAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO MAKE
DECISIONS REGARDING THE OFFICIAL STATE OF ALERT IN THEIR AREA AND
ANY ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN IN RESPONSE.
AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS
REPORTED BY THE JAPAN METEOROLOGICAL AGENCY.
ORIGIN TIME - 1921Z 11 JUL 2014
COORDINATES - 37.0 NORTH 142.6 EAST
DEPTH - 10 KM
LOCATION - OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU JAPAN
MAGNITUDE - 6.8
EVALUATION
NO DESTRUCTIVE WIDESPREAD TSUNAMI THREAT EXISTS BASED ON
HISTORICAL EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI DATA.
HOWEVER - EARTHQUAKES OF THIS SIZE SOMETIMES GENERATE LOCAL
TSUNAMIS THAT CAN BE DESTRUCTIVE ALONG COASTS LOCATED WITHIN
A HUNDRED KILOMETERS OF THE EARTHQUAKE EPICENTER. AUTHORITIES
IN THE REGION OF THE EPICENTER SHOULD BE AWARE OF THIS
POSSIBILITY AND TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION.
THIS WILL BE THE ONLY BULLETIN ISSUED FOR THIS EVENT UNLESS
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE.
THE JAPAN METEOROLOGICAL AGENCY MAY ALSO ISSUE TSUNAMI MESSAGES
FOR THIS EVENT TO COUNTRIES IN THE NORTHWEST PACIFIC AND SOUTH
CHINA SEA REGION. IN CASE OF CONFLICTING INFORMATION... THE
MORE CONSERVATIVE INFORMATION SHOULD BE USED FOR SAFETY.
THE U.S. NATIONAL TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER WILL ISSUE PRODUCTS
FOR ALASKA...BRITISH COLUMBIA...WASHINGTON...OREGON...CALIFORNIA.Τετάρτη 28 Μαΐου 2014
TEPCO finds water leak area in crippled Fukushima No.1 reactor
The company said that a remote-controlled robot survey found that water was leaking from a joint in a pipe connected to the No. 1 reactor's primary containment vessel, Kyodo News said.
The metal bellow joint is likely to have been corroded by seawater that was used as an emergency measure to cool the reactor during the early stage of the nuclear crisis triggered by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Kyodo quoted a TEPCO official as saying.
The official, according to the report, denied the possibility that the leakage was caused because the earthquake damaged equipment, adding TEPCO will continue to investigate if there are other areas of leakage nearby.
Confirmation of locations of water leakages is an important part of TEPCO's plan to scrap the No. 1 to 3 reactors, which suffered meltdowns as the operator has to plug the leaks and fill the containers with water that serves as radiation shield so as to remove the melted fuel.
(Xinhua)- [cntv.cn]
28/5/14
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Κυριακή 16 Μαρτίου 2014
US scientists expect radioactive water from Fukushima at American coast by April
Buesseler said no federal or international agencies are monitoring ocean waters from Fukushima on this side of the Pacific, so he has organized volunteer monitors at 16 sites along the California and Washington coasts and two in Hawaii to collect seawater in 20-liter specialized plastic containers and ship them by UPS to his Woods Hole laboratory.
The March 2011 tsunami off Japan flooded the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant, causing radiation-contaminated water to spill into the Pacific. Airborne radiation was detected in milk and rainwater in the US soon afterward. But things move much more slowly in the ocean.
"We know there's contaminated water coming out of there, even today," Buesseler said in a video appealing for volunteers and contributions.
In fact, it is the biggest pulse of radioactive liquid dropped in the ocean ever, he said.
"What we don't really know is how fast and how much is being transported across the Pacific," he added. "Yes, the models tell us it will be safe. Yes, the levels we expect off the coast of the U.S. and Canada are expected to be low. But we need measurements, especially now as the plume begins to arrive along the West Coast."
Two different models have been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals predicting the spread of radioactive isotopes of cesium and iodine from Fukushima. One, known as Rossi et al, shows the leading edge of the plume hitting the West Coast from southeast Alaska to Southern California by April. The other, known as Behrens et all, shows the plume hitting Southeast Alaska, British Columbia and Washington by March 2016.
The isotopes have been detected at very low levels at a Canadian sampling point far out to sea earlier than the models predicted, but not yet reported at the beach, said Kathryn A. Higley, head of the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Health Physics at Oregon State University. The Rossi model predicts levels a little higher than the fallout from nuclear weapons testing in the 1960s. The Behrens model predicts lower levels like those seen in the ocean in the 1990s, after the radiation had decayed and dissipated.
The models predict levels of Cesium 137 between 30 and 2 Becquerels per cubic meter of seawater by the time the plume reaches the West Coast, Higley said.
- The federal drinking water health standard is 7,400 Becquerels per cubic meter, Leon said.
Voice of Russia, Fox News
Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_03_16/US-scientists-expect-contaminated-water-from-Fukushima-at-American-coast-by-April-2248/
16/3/14
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Κυριακή 9 Φεβρουαρίου 2014
Tokyo records heaviest snowfall in 45 years (video)
Japan’s weather agency says 27 centimeters of snow fell in Tokyo on Saturday, the heaviest in the capital in 45 years.
35 centimeters fell in Sendai and 44 centimeters in Fukushima on Sunday morning. The weather cleared in Tokyo on Sunday, but transport systems continued to be disrupted.
More than 100 domestic flights and 219 international flights were cancelled in Haneda airport, and a number of train services were also cancelled. The weather system is moving to northeastern Japan and dumping snow on the region’s Pacific side. Forecasters warn of heavy snow in Tohoku, and very strong winds in the Kanto and Tohoku regions.
cntv.cn
10/2/14
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