[Column] X-day – when Fukushima plant discharges millions of tones of the contaminated water to Pacific ocean

The biggest threat of Fukushima plant is believed to be the SFP of reactor4.

They say, the pool is set in the really unstable situation, it might not be able to stand another aftershock.
However, some of the problems are already promised to happen almost. One is the lack of nuclear workers, and another one is the deterioration of the equipment and storage of contaminated water.

All the coolant system were built provisionally. Actual Fukushima worker Happy11311 comments like this,
“many of these are improvised preparation made of roughly collected parts from all over Japan.
They didn’t even consider maintenance to build the equipment. Tepco was in a hurry, they only made it last for one year. The parts are not particularly for nuclear plants, they are for general usage. The parts will need to be replaced from now otherwise troubles will keep happening though I think Tepco won’t change it until it gets disordered.” [Link]

They are trying to renew the system, but due to the lack of resource, it’s not improving as fast as it should be.
The parts of coolant system are dropping off one by one.

Since the beginning of September, coolant water injected to reactor1~3 has been decreasing and it’s not settled even by now. [Link]

In the beginning, Tepco stated they fixed it by eliminating the suspended materials in the strainer but soon after that, water started decreasing again. [Link] The reason is not known and the problem is still on-going. Even on 11/24/2012, Tepco increased the water amount for reactor1, 2 and 3 to cover the decrease of injection water. Tepco has made no explanation about when to solve this problem. [Link]

On the other hand, the water level of RPV (Fuel area) in reactor1 has also been in the decreasing trend.
At 5:00 of 7/12/2012 5:00, it was -1.24m. On 8/12/2012, it was -1.30m, it decreased to be -1.44m on 9/12/2012 and it dropped to be -1.60m on 10/12/2012. It’s -1.74m on 11/12/2012 and it marked the lowest level on 11/25/2012, which was -1.86m. There are some ups and downs, but it’s in the decreasing trend for sure. This fact has never been reported by Tepco or any official “news” site. The reason is not clear, but probably the crippled pressure vessel is leaking the water. [Link]

Where does the leaked water go ?

Fukushima Diary has been reporting the increasing radioactive density in seawater around Fukushima plant since mid November.
On 11/16/2012, radiation level of the seawater at reactor2 reached the highest level since August 2012. [Link] On 11/26/2012, Fukushima Diary reported radiation level at water intake of reactor1~4 is slowly increasing as well. [Link] and Today, we found out radioactivity density of the seawater is increased at 57% of tested locations offshore Fukushima. [Link]

About this problem, Tepco has made no statement.

Officially, most of the leaked water is supposed to be stocked in storage tank, but it’s becoming harder and harder to find a place to put tanks. In addition to the leaked water, about 400 tones of underground water flows to the plant every single day.

From the research of Fukushima Diary, 89.2% of contaminated water tank is already full. Newly extended tank will be full by 2016 too. [Link] Decommissioning Fukushima plant is told to take up to 40 years. However, contaminated water storage tank will be full in the first 5 years.
For the rest of 35 years, they must find new places for water storage but because land is limited, ground is weak, it’s becoming harder and harder to find a space. Also, the further they put the tanks, the more likely the pipe gets damaged because it runs long.

Some people question the seismic stability of the tanks as well.[Link] All We could do it just to hope the spilt water from the fallen tanks extinguish the fire of reactor4 like Pythagora Switch in case of aftershock.
Even massmedia is not in the mood of joking unusually. On 11/26/2012, Nikkei newspaper reported the serious situation of contaminated water storage situation.
They reported,

“At this moment, the tank for 240,000 tones of contaminated water is already full. Tepco is going to add the storage facility of 700,000 tones of water in three years. It’s already more than a half of Tokyo dome. Tepco started the construction to bypass underground water to avoid flowing into the reactors but the bypassed water has to be stocked as well.
The pipe to circulate contaminated water runs for 10km. Scattered debris, trucks and heavy machinery damaged the vinyl chloride pipe to cause contaminated water leakage.
They were relieved to fix them by last Autumn in 2011, but water started leaking again in late January. It leaked at 10 locations in the same day at the most due to the frozen water in the pipe.
Tepco is supposed to have changed most of the pipe to polyethylene one and attached heat insulating material before the second winter.
They could shorten the pipe by making it circulate at each reactor, but they are postponing the construction due to the shortage of resource. Managing contaminated water is an endless process.” [Link]

Nobody has estimated how much contaminated water will be produced by the time of decommissioning.

 

 

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Français :

[Edito] X-day – Quand la centrale de Fukushima balance des millions de tonnes d’eau contaminée dans l’océan Pacifique

On considère que la plus grande menace venant de la centrale de Fukushima est la SFP du réacteur 4. (= piscine des combustibles usagés)

Ils disent que la piscine est vraiment dans une situation instable, elle peut ne pas survivre à une autre réplique.
Toutefois, certains des problèmes sont déjà pratiquement certains . L’un est la pénurie en ouvriers du nucléaire, un autre est la détérioration des installations et de stockage des eaux contaminées.

Tout le système de refroidissement a été construit de façon provisoire. Le travailleur de Fukushima Happy11311 en dit ceci :
“Beaucoup de ces trucs sont grossièrement improvisés à partir de morceaux glanés dans tout le Japon .
Ils n’ont même pas étudié la maintenance des équipements qu’ils ont construit. Tepco était à la bourre, ils ont fait pour que ça puisse tenir un an. Les éléments ne sont pas particulièrement conçus pour les centrales nucléaires, ils sont d’usage courant. Des parties vont nécessiter d’être remplacées à partir de maintenant sinon on va avoir des troubles bien que je pense que Tepco ne les remplacera pas tant qu’ils ne tomberont pas en panne.” [Lien]

Ils essayent de renouveler le système mais à cause du manque de ressources ça ne va pas aussi vite que ce qu’il faudrait.
Les éléments du système de refroidissement cassent les uns après les autres.

Depuis début septembre, l’eau de refroidissement injectée dans les réacteurs 1 à 3 a été réduite mais ce n’est toujours pas stabilisé pour l’instant. [Lien]

Au début, Tepco affirmait qu’ils réparaient en éliminant les particules en suspension dans les filtres mais peu après, l’eau a recommencé à manquer. [Lien] La raison n’est pas connue et le problème est toujours d’actualité. Même le 24 novembre 2012, Tepco a augmenté la quantité d’eau injectée dans les réacteurs 1, 2 et 3 pour combler le déficit en eau. Tepco n’a rien dit de la façon par laquelle ils comptent résoudre ce problème. [Lien]

D’un autre coté, le niveau de l’eau dans la RPV1 (zone combustibles) (= Enceinte primaire du réacteur 1) a aussi tendance à diminuer.
Le 12 juillet à 5:00, c’était  -1,24 m. Le 12 août 2012,  -1,30 m, c’est descendu à -1,44 m le 12 septembre 2012 et ça a chuté à -1,60 m le 12 octobre 2012. On en est à -1,74 m au 12 novembre 2012 et le record de pénurie a eu lieu le 25 novembre 2012, à -1,86 m. Il y a des variations en dents de scie mais la tendance générale est à la diminution de façon claire. Ce fait n’a jamais été rapporté par Tepco ou par un quelconque site officiel “d’information”. La raison n’en est pas claire mais l’enceinte pressurisée endommagée perd de l’eau. [Lien]

Où va cette eau ?

Le Fukushima Diary rapporte depuis mi-novembre l’augmentation de la densité de la radioactivité dans l’eau de mer autour de la centrale.
Le 16 novembre 2012, le niveau de radioactivité de l’eau de mer en face du réacteur 2 a atteint un record depuis août 2012. [Lien] Le 26 novembre 2012, le Fukushima Diary avait signalé que le niveau de radioactivité augmentait aussi en face des prises d’eau des réacteurs 1 à 4. [Lien] et aujourd’hui on découvre que la densité de radioactivité de l’eau de mer a augmenté dans 57% des points de test situés au large de Fukushima. [Lien]

Tepco n’a fait aucune déclaration sur ce problème.

Officiellement, le gros de cette eau qui fuit est supposé aller dans les réservoirs de stockage mais il devient de plus en plus difficile de trouver où installer ces réservoirs. En plus de l’eau qui fuit, environ 400 tonnes d’eau souterraine circule chaque jour sous la centrale.

Des recherches du Fukushima Diary, 89,2% des réservoirs d’eau contaminée sont déjà pleins. Les nouvelles extensions en réservoirs seront pleines aussi courant 2016. [Lien] Démanteler la centrale de Fukushima est dit devoir prendre jusqu’à 40 ans alors que tous les réservoirs à eau contaminée seront pleins d’ici 5 ans.
Pour les 35 ans restants, ils doivent trouver de nouveaux emplacements de stockage pour l’eau mais parce que la place est limitée, le sol faible, il devient de plus en plus difficile d’en trouver. En outre, plus les réservoirs sont loin, plus les canalisations risquent d’être endommagées, à cause de leur longueur.

Certains s’interrogent aussi sur la résistance sismique des réservoirs.[Lien] Tout ce qu’on peut espérer est qu’en cas de réplique,  l’eau répandue des réservoirs cassés aille éteindre l’incendie du réacteur 4, façon machine de Rube Goldberg.

La grande presse n’a pas pour habitude de plaisanter. Le 26 novembre 2012, le journal Nikkei a rapporté la grave situation du stockage des eaux contaminées. Ils disaient :

En ce moment, le réservoir de 240 000 tonnes d’eaux contaminées est déjà plein. Tepco va ajouter un équipement de stockage d’eau contaminée d’une capacité de 700 000 tonnes sous trois ans. On est déjà à la moitié du dôme de Tokyo. Tepco a commencé la construction permettant de dévier les eaux souterraines pour éviter l’inondation des réacteurs mais l’eau déviée doit être stockée aussi.
Le tuyau qui transporte l’eau contaminée fait 10 km. Des débris épars, les camions grosses machines ont endommagé le tuyau en chlorure de vinyle et provoqué des fuites d’eaux contaminées.
Ils devaient se libérer de ces réparations à la fin de l’automne 2011 mais l’eau a recommencé à fuir fin janvier. Il y a eu 10 points de fuite un même jour, pour l’essentiel dus au gel de l’eau dans les tuyaux.
Tepco est supposé avoir remplacé la plupart des tuyaux par d’autres en polyéthylène et fixé des isolants contre le froid tout autour avant le deuxième hiver.
Ils pourraient raccourcir la tuyauterie en la faisant circuler dans chaque réacteur mais ils en repoussent la construction par manque de ressources. La gestion de l’eau contaminée est un processus sans fin.” [Lien]

Personne n’a estimé la quantité d’eau contaminée qui va être produite pendant tout le démantèlement.

  1. All We could do is just to hope the spilt water from the fallen tanks extinguish the fire of reactor4

    At last, the plan is out in the open

  2. Hello lori, I think the decreased water levels are probably indicative of the recent swarms of earthquakes in close proximity to Fukushima Daiichi is taking a toll on the already cracked,leaking and hopeless structures holding fuel & coolant and pretty soon it will be “Game Over” for Japan,followed by the USA & then the rest of the planet in the path of the plume(s) sure to follow big release events?!! I hope those responsible suffer the worst!! But I’m still going to try to enjoy life while I can until it becomes impossible to escape the foul garbage they stubbornly refuse to stop embracing as if it’s still somehow worth all of the harm it is causing due to some “secret” benefit to humanity?!! Their “dirty” money will be worthless when radiation seeps into everything & everyone and the Govt.’s have collapsed rendering their horded money useless for all but kindling to start fires to cook radioactive rats that will be all that’s left to eat! BTW,I had a whopping $1.95 in my paypal account,so I sent you $1.00 of it with the hopes that 900,000 more people do the same!~LOL! TAKE CARE & Keep fighting the good fight! J.B.

  3. If living in Japan, I’d believe against the insurmountable “a couple thingss” life has become pointless, and it will be…

  4. There is a part of humanity that deems people >less than, not worthy of living, all societies have ppl in it that are either givers or takers of this judgement upon one another… I very much understand this dynamic, the problem is, usually this judgement is reserved for a select few of the lower socioeconomic class, but in Japan it has been cast upon an entire nation’s populace, this is happening, this is fact, and the mentally weaker of these individuals usually take the hint and cast away their lives in a plethora of ways. Your government is sick and sadistic and it needs to go to he’ll where it belongs, which it won’t but the entire civilian population will. All of this is the worst of what humanity and it’s societies and mechanisms can represent.

  5. The suicide is coming, orchestrated on purpose or by accident the wheel has been set in motion, japan will become oppressed,depressed,downtrodden. The people’s spirit has been irrepairably broken. That is quite the task, may that weigh heavily upon those responsible, which it won’t, they won’t even admit they made a terrible mistake, exposing the whole nation along with many other deliberated and deliberate academically justified sociosadism overthought self absorbed detached hierarchical inner sanctum driven errors in thought,judgements and thinking. I can only hope the zombies exterminate their creators as some sort of divine justice/karma. Elitism, ain’t that a b#*#*

  6. 2be clear, I am confident 2wice over at the least, that all nuclear countries will behave in much the same manner. Both a social and a biological poison, hmm

  7. The Other World told us long ago, that there is NO SOLUTION to the Fukushima nuclear disaster, all you can do is ESCAPE as reactors are out of control.
    Your publications are confirming this statement. When will Man realize that he cannot control or manage everything ? When will Man believe in Divine advice given since the beginning of this ongoing disaster ?
    More on http://attentiondanger.over-blog.com

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About this site

This website updates the latest news about the Fukushima nuclear plant and also archives the past news from 2011. Because it's always updated and added live, articles, categories and the tags are not necessarily fitted in the latest format.
I am the writer of this website. About page remains in 2014. This is because my memory about 311 was clearer than now, 2023, and I think it can have a historical value. Now I'm living in Romania with 3 cats as an independent data scientist.
Actually, nothing has progressed in the plant since 2011. We still don't even know what is going on inside. They must keep cooling the crippled reactors by water, but additionally groundwater keeps flowing into the reactor buildings from the broken parts. This is why highly contaminated water is always produced more than it can circulate. Tepco is planning to officially discharge this water to the Pacific but Tritium is still remaining in it. They dilute this with seawater so that it is legally safe, but scientifically the same amount of radioactive tritium is contained. They say it is safe to discharge, but none of them have drunk it.

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