Fuel Leak, Deadly Radiation Found at Fukushima

[thackney]

Fuel Leak, Deadly Radiation Found at Fukushima
http://www.power-eng.com/articles/2017/02/fuel-leak-deadly-radiation-found-at-fukushima.html
Feb 3, 2017

A new inspection at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant found previously-undetected deadly radiation, and a leak of melted fuel is the likely cause.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. inspected the inside of the No. 2 reactor’s containment vessel using a camera on a pole, and discovered a hole the size of a square meter melted into a steel-grating walkway directly underneath the reactor pressure vessel, the Nikkei Asian Review reported.

“Noise” on the images indicates one area of the vessel was emitting radiation at 530 sieverts per hour, which is enough to kill a human under a minute. Previously, emissions at the reactor after it was crippled by the March 2011 tsunami only reached 73 SV/hour.

TEPCO previously believed most of the nuclear fuel had been contained, but the company now says it’s highly possible melted fuel leaked through. A press release from the company indicated further examination is necessary to verify the leak...

[Smokin Joe]

Oops....

[Cyber Liberty]

This is getting worse, not better....

[Smokin Joe]

This is getting worse, not better....

I think a lot of that is perception. It has been absent from the news, even though a great deal of contaminated groundwater has supposedly made it into the Pacific.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2013/08/130807-fukushima-radioactive-water-leak/ Not all of that is from leaking tanks, so the containment breach may be a contributor. Radiation levels offshore are not dropping, but staying pretty constant. If half-lives are considered, it should be dropping off if no new contamination was occurring.

[thackney]

This is getting worse, not better....

I don't see this as a new problem, but a newly discovered old problem.

It is not getting worse.  We are learning more about what already happened.

[Smokin Joe]

I don't see this as a new problem, but a newly discovered old problem.

It is not getting worse.  We are learning more about what already happened.

I think you are right. The problem persists, we are just being told about it.

[Cyber Liberty]

I think you are right. The problem persists, we are just being told about it.

What next?  Godzilla?

[Smokin Joe]

What next?  Godzilla?

And Mothra (Hey, the twins were cute), Rodan, Ghidra....

[Wingnut]

What next?  Godzilla?

And Mothra (Hey, the twins were cute), Rodan, Ghidra....

My Japanese is a little Rusty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3nfBsDBJ10

[Idaho_Cowboy]

What next?  Godzilla?

The only case Perry Mason ever lost. 

[Ghost Bear]

And Mothra (Hey, the twins were cute), Rodan, Ghidra....

And then giant robots to fight the giant monsters...

And then giant robot monsters...

And then...

[Frank Cannon]

This is getting worse, not better....

This has been going on since the original disaster. All their ideas to contain it are Rube Goldbergish. This will be going on forever the way it looks.

[thackney]

This is getting worse, not better....

@Cyber Liberty @Smokin Joe

Looks like I need to correct myself, this appears to be getting worse.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/02/03/national/fukushima-radiation-level-highest-since-march-11/#.WJoByDsrI2w

The radiation level in the containment vessel of reactor 2 at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 power plant has reached a maximum of 530 sieverts per hour, the highest since the triple core meltdown in March 2011, Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings Inc. said.

Tepco said on Thursday that the blazing radiation reading was taken near the entrance to the space just below the pressure vessel, which contains the reactor core.

The high figure indicates that some of the melted fuel that escaped the pressure vessel is nearby.

At 530 sieverts, a person could die from even brief exposure, highlighting the difficulties ahead as the government and Tepco grope their way toward dismantling all three reactors crippled by the March 2011 disaster.

Tepco also announced that, based on its analysis of images taken by a remote-controlled camera, that there is a 2-meter hole in the metal grating under the pressure vessel in the reactor’s primary containment vessel. It also thinks part of the grating is warped.

The hole could have been caused when the fuel escaped the pressure vessel after the mega-quake and massive tsunami triggered a station blackout that crippled the plant’s ability to cool the reactors.

The searing radiation level, described by some experts as “unimaginable,” far exceeds the previous high of 73 sieverts per hour at the reactor....

[thackney]

@Cyber Liberty @Smokin Joe

Looks like I need to correct myself, this appears to be getting worse.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/02/03/national/fukushima-radiation-level-highest-since-march-11/#.WJoByDsrI2w

The radiation level in the containment vessel of reactor 2 at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 power plant has reached a maximum of 530 sieverts per hour...

Approximate radiation intensity level at Chernobyl reactor in the vicinity of the reactor cores shortly after the explosion was 300 sieverts per hour.  A dose of ~5 sieverts delivered over five hours is usually lethal for human beings.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster#Radiation_levels

[Idaho_Cowboy]

Approximate radiation intensity level at Chernobyl reactor in the vicinity of the reactor cores shortly after the explosion was 300 sieverts per hour.  A dose of ~5 sieverts delivered over five hours is usually lethal for human beings.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster#Radiation_levels

Holy cow! Thanks for the perspective.

[Cyber Liberty]

Approximate radiation intensity level at Chernobyl reactor in the vicinity of the reactor cores shortly after the explosion was 300 sieverts per hour.  A dose of ~5 sieverts delivered over five hours is usually lethal for human beings.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster#Radiation_levels

Is crud from this still washing out to sea?

[chae]

I thought I heard that they were catching radiation infested fish in California because of this.

[dfwgator]

What next?  Godzilla?

History shows again and again how Nature points out the folly of men.

[Cyber Liberty]

I thought I heard that they were catching radiation infested fish in California because of this.

CNBC says Cesium is elevated off CA, but not near danger levels yet.  Year old article:

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/10/us-watches-as-fukushima-continues-to-leak-radiation.html

[thackney]

Is crud from this still washing out to sea?

The material, however, remains safely within the outer containment vessel and only poses a risk within that protective barrier.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/fukushima-reactor-shows-highest-radiation-level-initial-meltdown-180962050/

Update 2/07/2017: The headline and story has been updated to stress that radiation levels within the nuclear reactor are not necessarily rising, but the latest measurements are the highest values yet recorded.

[Frank Cannon]

The material, however, remains safely within the outer containment vessel and only poses a risk within that protective barrier.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/fukushima-reactor-shows-highest-radiation-level-initial-meltdown-180962050/

Update 2/07/2017: The headline and story has been updated to stress that radiation levels within the nuclear reactor are not necessarily rising, but the latest measurements are the highest values yet recorded.

If you believe any of the bullshit TEPCO is selling.

[thackney]

CNBC says Cesium is elevated off CA, but not near danger levels yet.  Year old article:

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/10/us-watches-as-fukushima-continues-to-leak-radiation.html

Last December, Buesseler and his team said they had found a spike of cesium-134 off the coast of California — about 11 becquerels per cubic meter of water. Becquerels are a unit measuring radiation. Buesseler and his team reported finding about 10 becquerels per cubic meter of water 1,500 miles north of Hawaii. That was a level around twice as high as levels they had found on previous missions.

Five years later, scientists have reason to assume radiation from the Fukushima disaster is still showing up on U.S. shores. And they will likely continue to leak and drift for decades to come.

Then again, these levels are extremely small. To put 11 becquerels in perspective, a single dental X-ray would expose a person to 1,000 times more radiation than swimming in that water for an entire year, according to Buesseler. It is about 500 times lower than the U.S. government standard for safe drinking water.

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Also note that the title of that article is misleading.  It isn't the reactor that is leaking.  It is residue from the material that originally left during the tsunami.

There is also radioactive material in the groundwater, soil and in the buildings.

"I expect to see small leaks for decades to come," he said. "It is a difficult thing to have soil and groundwater and buildings contaminated to this extent and not have that leaking out."

[thackney]

If you believe any of the bullshit TEPCO is selling.

Lots of outside monitoring for years by watchdog type groups not reporting any rise in radiation.

[Smokin Joe]

The material, however, remains safely within the outer containment vessel and only poses a risk within that protective barrier.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/fukushima-reactor-shows-highest-radiation-level-initial-meltdown-180962050/

Update 2/07/2017: The headline and story has been updated to stress that radiation levels within the nuclear reactor are not necessarily rising, but the latest measurements are the highest values yet recorded.

Highest values yet recorded may be a function of getting sensors to the pile.
I recall they were having trouble with the robots crapping out, too.

One of the problems is that groundwater flows from inland to the sea, and at least early on the groundwater was picking up contaminants and carrying them out to sea.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/01/nuclear-radiation-seeps-japanese-groundwater

[Smokin Joe]

- - - - - - -

Also note that the title of that article is misleading.  It isn't the reactor that is leaking.  It is residue from the material that originally left during the tsunami.

While the amount of radiation emitted by the cesium in the seawater may be minor, biological systems have a nasty habit of concentrating contaminants. Fish are notorious for picking up heavier metals, and those concentrated contaminants can become part of , or exclude portions of the food chain from human consumption. While properly monitored, that may not pose a health risk, there are those who will work around such concerns.
If contaminated food stocks are completely intercepted, the effect is to reduce the available supply. Japan experienced this with mercury in the past.
That raises the question of what effect this might have on fisheries, and not just in Japan.

If seawater is not being freshly contaminated, then radiation levels should drop (rate dependent on half-life of the particular isotopes involved). If those levels aren't dropping, that may indicate ongoing contamination.