Meanwhile, back at the Fukushima "not a meltdown"...

[Mitch Cronin]

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=13723866

"An oil spill and a small explosion have caused limited damage — but no further radiation leaks — at the crippled nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan, the plant operator said Tuesday.

Workers at Fukushima Dai-ichi plant found an oil spill in the sea near reactors five and six, which were in shutdown when the earthquake and tsunami struck March 11, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said. The spill was contained by an oil fence, TEPCO spokesman Taichi Okazaki said.

The explosion workers heard at reactor four was likely from a gas tank and did not cause any additional radiation leaks, Okazaki said. The cause was being investigated.

The main problems at Fukushima Dai-ichi are involve reactors one, two and three, where the fuel cores have largely melted. Scientists and government officials say the reactors are short of a full meltdown, in which the fuel breaks through the bottom of the outer container."

It strikes me that there's a denial phrase of sorts in each of those first four lines in the story. ...It's been like that since this began, it seems to me. There's been an emphasis on playing it down that makes me feel rather uneasy about it all...

I don't understand why it wasn't all smothered in concrete from the outset? .... and why it isn't now? ... or how they get off intentionally dumping highly contaminated water in the sea? ...is it really possible they couldn't have rustled up enough tanker trailers and empty drums to stash all that water in for a time?

It's almost outrageous. ... They're poisoning the planet for what? To save something? What? How? I don't get it? Is that "full meltdown" a little more dangerous than they've been wanting us to believe?

The Japanese people have proven themselves to be some of the most innovative, creative, and adaptable people on Earth... so what's wrong with TEPCO; What's wrong with their government?; What's wrong with this picture?

They could've buried that whole facility in concrete, and then had the surrounding area buried in a mountain, by now.

[Chipndeal]

TEPCO may be saying the truth and the situation is, perhaps, not as bad as people want it to be. It's like a patient saying the doctor is no good because the doctor truthfully says "that's nothing, you'll be fine in a couple of days". The patient wants to hear his got a problem and appropriate drug prescribed, even if it's a placebo. I think this is similar.

From what I've read, they can't just burry this in concrete while the rods are hot. They have to cool them first.

[Mitch Cronin]

From what I've read, they can't just burry this in concrete while the rods are hot. They have to cool them first.

So bury them in rock and dirt a half mile thick? Why not?

... and I don't think they have any rods left... I think they're all mostly molten masses by now.

[Guest alkaid]

So bury them in rock and dirt a half mile thick? Why not?

... and I don't think they have any rods left... I think they're all mostly molten masses by now.

Isn't it frustrating when some fellow who has no aviation background starts talking about how airplanes should be maintained when it is obvious that he doesn't have a clue what he is talking about.

[Mitch Cronin]

Isn't it frustrating when some fellow who has no aviation background starts talking about how airplanes should be maintained when it is obvious that he doesn't have a clue what he is talking about.

I've quite honestly never run into that situation... but if improper aircraft maintenance was as much of a global hazard as that power plant is, I wouldn't blame anyone for voicing concerns, thoughts and questions.

Are those of us without a clue supposed to just trust that all will be well and ignore the risks?

Do you have a clue? .... if so, why not enlighten me?

[deicer]

With the Japanese culture, 'saving face' is a huge issue.

That may be the reason they are not being forthright with the information.

Iceman

[SkyBlazer]

With the Japanese culture, 'saving face' is a huge issue.

That may be the reason they are not being forthright with the information.

Iceman

Very Well said this is a cultural issue - Ive spent some time in Japan, My brother lived there on a ANA contract for a few years.

Despite being very innovative regarding technology and advancement - there seems to be a disconnect internally as to efficiency on a bureaucratic level.

They can move a Zillion people an hour on the trains but ask for one decision to be made and "meltdown"

Death before dishonour is a huge understatement.... look at how many CEO of corporation have had minor hiccups and they committed suicide there... versus the fanny may and freddy mac meltdowns here and those execs to a payout and left.

The culture of failure is a very sore point .. perhaps ever since the Emperor surrendered back in WW2.

There is no room or tolerance for failure - to do so is to dishonour yourself and that you stand for..... the whole "learning from ones mistakes" is not as open as it is here in North America.

That all being said I have to agree that all of it is disheartening from a ecological perspective.

SB

[boestar]

TEPCO has reported that information obtained after calibration of the reactor water level gauges of Unit 1 shows that the actual water level in the Unit 1 reactor pressure vessel was lower than was indicated, showing that the fuel was completely uncovered. The results of provisional analysis show that fuel pellets melted and fell to the bottom of reactor pressure vessel at a relatively early stage in the accident.

TEPCO reported that "most part of the fuel is considered to be submerged in the bottom of reactor pressure vessel and some part exposed." TEPCO also reported that leakage of cooling water from the reactor pressure vessel is likely to have occurred. However, TEPCO considers that the actual damage to the reactor pressure vessel is limited, on the basis of the temperatures now being measured around the reactor pressure vessel.

I am going with "Mostly molten masses"

http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/tsunamiupdate01.html

[Chipndeal]

With the Japanese culture, 'saving face' is a huge issue.

That may be the reason they are not being forthright with the information.

Iceman

It is true but not at the expense of anyone's life. In Japanese culture saving face is important but also telling someone only what he/she needs to know is important. This is so not to deceive people but not to inundate them with unecessary information. There is genuine willingness to help each other out in Japan.

I still think TEPCO is saying what needs to be said.

[DEFCON]

The news today:

Senior people in Japan are being prepared for work in and around the stricken plants. They are being called, 'The Fuchushima Suicide Squad'.

[DEFCON]

Mitch

I don't think they can cover the scene in rock etc as the beast is still very much alive and will likely continue by burning a big hole in the ground until such time as the molten mass finally cools. That may take years and could produce some very undesirable consequences results as the burn continues. This event is quite a bit differnet that the Russian experience.

[Mitch Cronin]

"Japan doubles Fukushima radiation leak estimate

Inquiry launched into nuclear disaster as studies reveal contamination more widely spread than first thought"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/07/japan-doubles-fukushima-radiation-leak-estimate

[Don Hudson]

It's time to rejuvenate this thread, (among the many here on the AEF either directly related to or just mentioning Fukushima in relation to other organizational accidents):

The Final Report:

Main report (downloads very quickly in seven PDFs. The updated (Sept 2012) Executive Summary is also available here)

"This English translation of the report is a direct translation of the main report. If any questions arise related to the accuracy of the information contained in the translation, please refer to the Japanese-language version of the Commission Report, which is the official version of the document. If there are any discrepancies or differences between the Japanese-language version and this English translation, the Japanese -language version shall prevail."

On a different website, regarding the leaks of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean, (we on the west coast of North America all know where the Japanese current goes):

Fukushima nuclear plant: Japan takes steps over sea leak

The crippled Fukushima plant has faced water leaks and power cuts in recent months

Continue reading the main story Related Stories

• Steam seen at Fukushima building
• Fukushima nuclear chief Yoshida dies
• Water leak at Fukushima nuclear plant

"Japan says it is taking steps to prevent contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant leaking into the sea." http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23429421

How the Fukushima Ice Barrier Will Block Radioactive Groundwater

Japan plans to stop leaking radioactive groundwater at Fukushima with an underground wall of ice. Here’s how it would work.

• By Peter Fairley on August 30, 2013

[J.O.]

How realistic is this image, purported to show the flow of radioactive sea water from Fukushima.

http://www.naturalnews.com/images/Radioactive-Seawater-Impact-Map-March-2012.jpg

[13820]

I would consider the source.

http://www.naturalnews.com/

Nuff said.

[Mitch Cronin]

Well then... as you can clearly read:

...the "source" seems to be satellite data from SIO, NOAA, U.S. Navy, NGA, & GEBCO... "Nuff said"?

[GDR]

This is from the CNN web site.

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2013/08/30/why-fukushima-is-worse-than-you-think/?hpt=hp_c2

Why Fukushima is worse than you think

By Mycle Schneider, Special to CNN

Editor’s note: Mycle Schneider is an independent international consultant on energy and nuclear policy based in Paris. He is the coordinator and lead author of the World Nuclear Industry Status Report. The views expressed are his own.

“Careless” was how Toyoshi Fuketa, commissioner of the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority, reportedly described the inspection quality of hundreds of water tanks at the crippled Fukushima plant following the recent discovery of a serious radioactive spill. China’s Foreign Ministry went further, saying it was “shocking” that radioactive water was still leaking into the Pacific Ocean two years after the Fukushima incident.

Both comments are to the point, and although many inside and outside Japan surely did not realize how bad the March 11, 2011 disaster was – and how bad it could get – it seems clear now that we have been misled about the scale of the problem confronting Japan. The country needs international help – and quickly.

While the amount of radioactivity released into the environment in March 2011 has been estimated as between 10 percent and 50 percent of the fallout from the Chernobyl accident, the 400,000 tons of contaminated water stored on the Fukushima site contain more than 2.5 times the amount of radioactive cesium dispersed during the 1986 catastrophe in Ukraine.

So, where has this huge amount of highly contaminated water – enough to fill 160 Olympic-size swimming pools – come from? In the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, the reactor cores of units 1, 2 and 3 melted through the reactor vessels into the concrete. Nobody knows how far the molten fuel went through the containment – radiation levels in the reactor buildings are lethal, while robots got stuck in the rubble and some never came back out.

More from CNN: What Japanese leaders can learn

The molten fuel still needs to be cooled constantly and the operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), injects about 400 tons of water into the perforated reactor vessels every day. That water washes out radioactive elements and runs straight through into the basements that were flooded during the tsunami. By 2015, over 600,000 tons of highly radioactive liquid are expected to have accumulated in temporary tanks, some underground, many bolted rather than welded together, and none ever conceived to hold this kind of liquid over the long term. The dangerous fluid is pumped around in four kilometer long makeshift tubes, many of them made of vinyl rather than steel, and plagued with numerous leaks in the winter when the above ground lines get hit by frost.

TEPCO’s account of the discovery this month of the leak of 300 tons of highly radioactive water showed a frightening level of amateurism:

“We found water spread at the bottom level of tanks near the tank No.5... Therefore, we checked the water level of this tank, and… confirmed that the current water level is lower by approximately 3 meters than the normal level.”

TEPCO reportedly admitted that only 60 of 350 tanks in that area are equipped with volume gauges. “Inspection” is done visually by a worker with a radiation detector. Meanwhile, the soil around the leaking tank delivered a dose per hour equivalent to the legal limit for nuclear workers for five years. No remote radiation measuring devices, no remote handling.

The tank leak is just the latest in a long list of signs that things are going fundamentally wrong at the site of what could still turn out to be the most serious radiological event in history. And the situation could still get a lot worse. A massive spent fuel fire would likely dwarf the current dimensions of the catastrophe and could exceed the radioactivity releases of Chernobyl dozens of times. First, the pool walls could leak beyond the capacity to deliver cooling water or a reactor building could collapse following one of the hundreds of aftershocks. Then, the fuel cladding could ignite spontaneously releasing its entire radioactive inventory.

More from CNN: Japan ponders freezing ground

TEPCO’s inability to stabilize the site, and the dramatic failure of the Japanese government, now majority owner of TEPCO, should come as no surprise. Indeed, so far, the Nuclear Regulation Authority has seemed too busy trying to help restart the country’s stranded reactors to put adequate attention on stabilizing the Fukushima site.

The fact is that the Fukushima Daiichi site represents challenges of unprecedented complexity. Maintaining the cooling of three molten reactor cores and five spent fuel pools in a disaster zone is a job of titanic proportions. That is why two weeks after the crisis first erupted I suggested the creation of an International Task Force Fukushima (ITFF) that would pull together the world’s experts in key areas of concern: nuclear physics and engineering, core cooling, water management, spent fuel and radioactive waste storage, building integrity and radiation protection.

Two and a half years on, the need for such a taskforce has only grown.

An ITFF would need to be established for at least two years to be effective, and could have two co-chairpersons – one Japanese, one from abroad. A core group of about a dozen experts would work full-time on the project and could draw at will on the expertise of several dozen corresponding experts that are carefully selected by the core group. A significant share of the core group should be independent experts (i.e. with no link to corporate or state interests). In addition, the ITFF would work in an open expert network, free to draw on any expertise in any field that it judges pertinent. It could openly invite feedback to its recommendations and would do its utmost to assess comments and suggestions.

Of course, such a taskforce would not “supervise” or “control” – the responsibility for this would remain with the Japanese government and the regulator. But the ITFF could provide recommendations on short-, medium- and long-term strategies for site stabilization.

Will the call for such a taskforce gain any traction? I have presented the basic concept to safety authorities of several countries, acting and former ambassadors, ministers and the European Commission. But while some officials have pointed to some ongoing limited bilateral assistance, so far, the main stumbling block appears to be the “pattern of denial” in Japan, a problem that has affected not only TEPCO, but apparently the Japanese government and the safety authorities as well.

Thankfully, there have been some small signs in official declarations by TEPCO and the Japanese government in recent days that offer hope for a change in attitudes. And Japan’s image in the world – and the Japanese people’s trust in their institutions – would greatly profit from an explicit and concrete international project. The question is whether members of the international community can muster the will to put their own interests aside, and help Japan conquer the denial that is risking catastrophe.

Post by:CNN's Jason Miks

Topics: Japan • Nuclear

[Don Hudson]

Good link, thanks Greg.

Mycle Schneider is Leading Author of the World Nuclear Industry Status Reports (as stated and linked in the above story). The 2013 Report is worth examining (reading is a challenge...it's huge), particularly for climate-change deniers.

One interesting graph in the extensive report, (about half-way through) shows how wind power has out-grown/out-paced nuclear power as a viable source of electrical generation.

Denial of another, equally dangerous but perhaps a bit more immediate kind is that of the Japanese authorities who continue on their own in the face of an abundance of evidence that they need assistance from the world community, (the main thesis of Mr. Schneider's remarks in the CNN story).

In the second and third paragraph from the story I cited above on the "freeze-wall" technique are the following statements:

"The Japanese firms involved appear to be taking a go-it-alone approach. Two weeks ago, a top official at Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) signaled that the utility behind the Fukushima disaster would seek international assistance with the Fukushima water contamination crisis. But experts at U.S.-based firms and national labs behind the world’s largest freeze-wall systems—and the only one proven in containing nuclear contamination—have not been contacted by either Tepco or its contractor, Japanese engineering and construction firm Kajima Corp.

"One of these experts is Elizabeth Phillips, who managed the installation of a 300-foot-long, 30-foot-deep freeze wall to isolate radioactive waste at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee in 1996 and 1997. While freeze walls are commonly used to hold back groundwater to facilitate excavations at construction sites and mines, this case calls for specialized expertise, she says. “You need to make sure that whoever is doing it is analyzing everything that can go wrong,” says Phillips. 'You should go with someone who has done it before.' ”

The notion of "sovereignty" is an interesting one. It means a granted and recognized independence generally of a large geopolitical entity like a nation or a country. But when is such sovereignty suspended when the health of world communities is clearly-and-distinctly threatened by "local" activities?

The question obviously applies to the release of carbon from its natural state as it does to the release of radioactive materials into the sea, (which has its own "sovereignty"!). What is the nature of "humanitarian intervention" when such a question is considered in an entirely non-conflicted, non-military arena which threatens world populations? The last time such a question had wide political currency and exposure also involved nuclear energy...

[JL]

The Japanese handling of this complex situation reminds me of some of my home projects where my wife keeps advising that I should get a professional plumber/appliance repairman/drywaller. I always respond with a resilient "No, I got it! No problem!" To admit defeat is to admit I don't really know what I am doing. This also crops up in flying from time to time..."should we go around?" "Nah, we'll be okay..." What is interesting, if you accepted help you would be admired for your maturity, professionalism and ability to manager difficult situations. To you, all you see is failure and embarrassment. What an odd human trait.

[J.O.]

Japan is a very proud nation - and for good reason. When your pride clouds your judgement, disaster can often result.

[GDR]

And then today from the CBC.

Radiation near a tank holding highly contaminated water at Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant has spiked 18-fold, the plant's operator said on Sunday, highlighting the struggle to bring the crisis under control after more than two years.

Radiation of 1,800 millisieverts per hour — enough to kill an exposed person in four hours — was detected near the bottom of one storage tank on Saturday, Tokyo Electric Power Co , also known as Tepco, said.

An Aug. 22 readings measured radiation of 100 millisieverts per hour at the same tank. Japanese law has set an annual radiation exposure safety threshold of 50 millisieverts for nuclear plant workers during normal hours.

Last month, Tepco revealed that water from the tank was leaking. Japan's nuclear regulator later raised the severity of the leak from a level 1 "anomaly" to a level 3 "serious incident" on an international scale for radiation releases.

The Fukushima Daiichi power plant north of Tokyo was devastated by a tsunami on March 11, 2011, that resulted in fuel-rod meltdowns at three reactors, radioactive contamination of the air, sea and food and the evacuation of 160,000 people.

It sparked the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl a quarter of a century earlier.

While there were no new leaks found at the tank, a Tepco spokesman said another leak had been detected from a pipe connecting two other tanks nearby.

"We have not confirmed fresh leakage from the tank and water levels inside the tank has not changed," the Tepco spokesman said. "We are investigating the cause."

Tepco said the radiation measured was beta rays, which would be easier to protect against than gamma rays.

The Tepco spokesman also said the higher level of radiation from the latest reading was partly because investigators had used a measuring instrument capable of registering greater amounts of radiation.

Instruments used previously had only been capable of measuring radiation up to 100 millisieverts, but the new instruments were able to measure up to 10,000 millisieverts.

Radiation of 220 millisieverts was also recorded near an adjacent storage tank, where a reading of 70 had been registered last month.

Those tanks are built of steel plates stuck together by bolts — the same structure as the tank that was found last month to have leaked 300 tonnes of highly toxic water.

With no one seeming to know how to bring the crisis to an end, Tepco said last week it would invite foreign decommissioning experts to advise it on how to deal with the highly radioactive water leaking from the site.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/09/01/japan-fukushima-reactor-radiation-levels-spike.html

[DEFCON]

The link below is to a web site featuring the work of Mr. Arnie Gunderson, nuclear engineer & licenced First Operator. He and his group have been predicting all that's going on now for almost two years now. Gunderson has made other predictions that are far more alarming which go unheeded to this date. Apparently, if another earthquake of 6.0 or greater occurs on the same fault building #4 and all its spent fuel rods will come tumbling down, which will be a disaster on a truly global scale. Gunderson made recommendations long ago in this regard which Tepco et al ignored in favour of the approach they're currently pursuing.

http://fairewinds.org/

[Don Hudson]

DEFCON - disturbing words.

"Unheeded" seems the way of things of this nature.

I would love to discover what it is about our nature that embraces this kind of thinking, over and over again. The notion of "progress" and the pace of progress somehow has something to do with this broken thinking.

Is it pure economics, where the budget process cannot in some way account for the savings of prevention but can only count the losses?

Is it dismissal of such warnings because those providing warnings aren't sufficiently "credentialed" or otherwise recognized within the "groupthink" group?

There is a USNavy report on the dangers of the approach to 18 at Birmingham, stating that the approach was "ripe" for a CFIT accident. Warnings about a major earthquake and Fukushima's Achilles Heel, (that the emergency power generators were in a basement that would be flooded in any tsunami),

Hubris, which almost always accompanies the arrogance of private wealth is nothing new as a cause of disaster - take a look at Henry Clay Frick's involvement in the Johnstown Flood of 1889:

South Fork Dam and Lake Conemaugh

High above the city, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania built the South Fork Dam between 1838 and 1853, as part of a cross-state canal system, the Main Line of Public Works. Johnstown was the eastern terminus of the Western Division Canal, supplied with water by Lake Conemaugh, the reservoir behind the dam. As railroads superseded canal barge transport, the Commonwealth abandoned the canal and sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad. The dam and lake were part of the purchase, and PRR sold them to private interests.^[3]

Henry Clay Frick led a group of speculators, including Benjamin Ruff, from Pittsburgh to purchase the abandoned reservoir, modify it, and convert it into a private resort lake for their wealthy associates. Many were connected through business and social links to Carnegie Steel. Development included lowering the dam to make its top wide enough to hold a road, and putting a fish screen in the spillway (the screen also trapped debris). These alterations are thought to have increased the vulnerability of the dam. The members built cottages and a clubhouse to create the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, an exclusive and private mountain retreat. Membership grew to include more than 50 wealthy Pittsburgh steel, coal, and railroad industrialists.^{[citation needed]}

Lake Conemaugh at the club's site was 450 feet (140 m) in elevation above Johnstown. The lake was about 2 miles (3.2 km) long, approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) wide, and 60 feet (18 m) deep near the dam. The lake had a perimeter of 7 miles (11 km) to hold 20 million tons of water.^{[citation needed]}

The dam was 72 feet (22 m) high and 931 feet (284 m) long. Between 1881 when the club was opened, and 1889, the dam frequently sprang leaks. It was patched, mostly with mud and straw. Additionally, a previous owner had removed and sold for scrap the three cast iron discharge pipes that previously allowed a controlled release of water. There had been some speculation as to the dam's integrity, and concerns had been raised by the head of the Cambria Iron Works downstream in Johnstown.

[Mitch Cronin]

.... Malcolm? You forget to take your happy pills today?

[all other comments avoided by tongue biting ]

[J.O.]

If enough of the world starts talking about the dangers of Fukushima, maybe it will force the officials in Japan to start listening to other, better ideas. Saying nothing certainly won't help, the word needs to spread.