LEAKING TANK AT FUKUSHIMA PLANT HAS NO WATER GAUGE
Channel: rumorecurioso
Date: 2013-08-22

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/

LEAKING TANK AT FUKUSHIMA PLANT HAS NO WATER GAUGE
 
The operator of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says it may have failed to find a leak of radioactive wastewater from a tank because it lacks a water gauge.

 Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, on Monday found a massive leak of highly contaminated wastewater from a tank near the No.4 reactor. Water had seeped outside the barrier around the tank.

 The tank is 11 meters high and can store up to 1,000 tons of wastewater. TEPCO said the tank's water level had dropped nearly three meters. That means more than 300 tons had been lost.

 The utility says the tank has no water gauge, so workers at the plant did not notice the leak until they saw water outside the barrier.

 The tank is one of about 350 at the plant made from steel plates and bolts. Four cases of leaks have been reported so far.

 TEPCO officials say workers conduct patrols twice a day to check the tanks for possible leaks.

 Tokyo Electric is trying to find the cause and location of the current leak. It will carry out emergency inspections on other tanks, and determine whether other tanks have water gauges.

Aug. 21, 2013 - Updated 10:12 UTC

TEPCO NUCLEAR CHIEF TO BE STATIONED IN FUKUSHIMA

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says it will station its nuclear power chief near the facility to oversee its decommissioning process, particularly handling of radioactive water.

 Tokyo Electric Power Company revealed last month that contaminated groundwater at the plant is seeping into the sea. This week, it said more than 300 tons of wastewater had leaked from a storage tank there.

 On Wednesday, the utility said it will send Vice President Zengo Aizawa, who heads the firm's nuclear power division, to Fukushima Prefecture to take direct command of decommissioning efforts. It said the move is aimed at clarifying the chain of command and facilitating information sharing among TEPCO officials in charge.

 In a news conference on Wednesday, Aizawa apologized for the utility's continuing to cause so much trouble and concern nearly 2 and a half years after the accident at the plant. He said he will tackle the water leaks as an issue of the highest priority.

Aug. 21, 2013 - Updated 10:54 UTC

NRA MAY RAISE FUKUSHIMA LEAK SEVERITY RATING
 
Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority may raise the severity rating of the latest contaminated-water leakage at the troubled Fukushima nuclear power plant by 2 notches from its initial assessment.

 Members of the NRA are discussing the matter at a meeting on Wednesday.

 On Monday, highly radioactive water was found leaking from one of the tanks built on a hillside by the Number 4 reactor.

 The NRA tentatively ranked the problem as level 1 on an 8-point international scale for nuclear accidents, which is the 2nd from the lowest.

 But the authority is now considering raising the assessment to level 3, as it was found on Tuesday that more than 300 tons of contaminated water has been released from the tank.

 The water is believed to contain thousands of trillions of becquerels of radioactive substances.

 Level 3 incidents are the 5th highest on the international scale, and are classified as serious accidents.

 In 1997, fire and explosions at a reprocessing plant in Tokai Village, Ibaraki Prefecture, caused radioactive materials to leak. Thirty-seven people were exposed to radiation. The incident was given a level 3 assessment.

 The 1999 criticality accident at a nuclear fuel processing plant, also in Tokai Village, was given a level 4 assessment.
 The NRA plans to seek advice from the International Atomic Energy Agency on the current Fukushima leak assessment.

Aug. 21, 2013 - Updated 03:56 UTC

NUCLEAR REGULATOR URGES CHECKING ALL TANKS

Japan's nuclear regulator has called for an immediate check of all water storage tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.

 The head of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, Shunichi Tanaka, told a news conference on Wednesday that there are about 350 other tanks at the site structurally identical to the one which leaked 300 tons.

 He said that if a leak occurs in one tank, it must be assumed that something similar will occur in others.

 He said the operator of the plant, the government and the regulatory agency must all do their best to prevent the situation at the plant from getting any worse.

 Tanaka added that he has instructed onsite inspectors from his agency to improve their monitoring of possible water leaks.

 He acknowledged that they had sometimes conducted the visual checks on rainy days and it would have been difficult to discover leaks from the joints of the tanks.

Aug. 21, 2013 - Updated 10:17 UTC