Tour of Fukushima Daiichi with Arnie Gundersen 10/3/13

Experts Warn Fukushima's Contaminated Water Situation may be Worse than Tepco Admits

Aug 22, 2013 06:14 PM EDT
By James A. Foley

In light of Wednesday's news that Japan's nuclear watchdog recommended elevating the
situation at the Fukushima nuclear campus to a level-three "serious threat," a new wave of
criticism has poured in, with some experts suggesting the situation at the crippled nuclear reactor
is much worst than Japan or the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) is willing to
admit.

Mycle Schneider, a nuclear expert who has advised the French and German governments on
nuclear issues, told the BBC that water is likely leaking from all around the Fukushima Daiichi
nuclear campus and that there is no accurate measurement for radiation levels.

It came to light this week that a hastily-put-together storage tank had leaked about 300 metric
tons of highly contaminated water and much of it has seeped into the ground. That leak is
separate from other leaks happening from within the drainage systems in place in the nuclear
campus' three melted down reactors, which are being perpetually flooded with water to keep the
reactor cores from overheating. About 400 tons of water is injected into the reactors each day,
and just as much contaminated water has to be extracted daily and stored in tanks around the
campus. Space is quickly running short. Much of water is seeping through cracks in the reactor
buildings and in the drainage system, where experts believe it is mixing with groundwater and
flowing into the Pacific Ocean.

"Once it gets into the ground water, like a river flowing to the sea, you can't really stop a ground

Ken Buesseler, a senior scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution who has examined
the waters around Fukushima. "There's no way to really contain all of this radioactive water on
site," he told the BBC.

Nuclear expert Schneider said "the quantities of water they are dealing with are absolutely
gigantic."

"What is the worse is the water leakage everywhere else -- not just from the tanks. It is leaking
out from the basements, it is leaking out from the cracks all over the place. Nobody can measure
that."

Schneider also suggests that the nature of the storage tanks, many of which are quickly
assembled in order to deal with the huge quantities of contaminated water needing to be stored,
could place the situation further in jeopardy.

"It is much worse than we have been led to believe, much worse," Schneider said.

Shunichi Tanaka, head of Japan's nuclear regulation authority, said he feared further leaks.

"We should assume that what has happened once could happen again, and prepare for more.
We are in a situation where there is no time to waste," he told reporters at a news conference
this week. "This is what we have been fearing. We cannot waste even a minute."

Fukushima leak

The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant said on Tuesday it believes
about 300 tonnes of highly contaminated water has leaked from a storage tank.

TEPCO Official Admits Fukushima "Out Of Control"

A month ago, when we quoted an independent expert that "TEPCO has lost control of
Fukushima" many took offense, despite all signs to the contrary. Perhaps the skeptics will
reevaluate their position following today's news reported by AFP, which cited Kazuhiko
Yamashita, who holds the executive-level title of "fellow" at Tokyo Electric Power, who finally
admitted what those not mired in prejudice about the state of nuclear energy refuse to
accept, that the nuclear plant was "not under control." This promptly led to the government,
which last weekend learned it would host the 2020 Olympics and promised that Fukushima
would not be a concern by then, to scramble and "reassure people on Friday that they have a lid
on Fukushima." Unfortunately, the lies, like the radiation in the plant, are now finally seeping
through and more are becoming fully aware of just how serious the catastrophe truly is, and
drove yet another steak through the heart of the official narrative by Prime Minister Abe as they
"flatly contradict" his assurances.

In a meeting with members of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, Yamashita was asked whether he agreed that "the situation is under control" as Abe had declared at the International Olympic Committee meeting in Buenos Aires.

He responded by saying, "I think the current situation is that it is not under control," according to major media, including national broadcaster NHK.

News of his comment prompted a rush by the government and TEPCO to elaborate on Yamashita's remark, saying he was talking specifically about the plant's waste water problem, and not the facility's situation in general.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, Abe's right-hand man, separately said Yamashita was repeatedly pressed by DPJ lawmakers when he made the remark. The punchline:

The view of TEPCO as a company does not contradict Abe's statement, Suga added.

Actually no, it does. What is more humiliating is that the admission comes a day after an official PR campaign was launched to ease the world's concerns that Japan really has no clue what it is doing.

Japan's reputation as a 'safe pair of hands' gave it the edge to win the race to host the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. The decision immediately boosted investor confidence - despite the ongoing Fukushima nuclear crisis.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe assured the International Olympic Committee that the Fukushima leak was not a threat to Tokyo and took personal responsibility for keeping it safe,' writes leading economist Professor Dr Stefan Lippert in World Review.

Persistent concerns over the leak of radioactive water from the nuclear power plant had dogged Tokyo's Olympic bid. The crippled nuclear plant is about 250 km (155 miles) north east of Tokyo and there are fears the amount of contaminated water is getting out of control.

But winning the bid gave shares in Japan 'an instant lift with construction companies, real estate and tourism expecting to benefit from the economic impact of staging the games,' says Professor Dr Lippert.

This is expected to create 150,000 jobs and have a US$30 billion economic impact for Japan while boosting the mood of investors and spurring Japan's economic recovery after two decades of lacklustre growth and the March 2011 triple disaster of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident.

'It will support the popular belief that that Japan's turnaround has finally begun, and contribute to the upbeat feeling in Japan since the beginning of Abenomics,' he adds.

Dr Lippert believes that the International Olympic Committee's decision on September 7, 2013, emphasises that the international community sees Japan as a haven of stability and wealth in the region.

'Internationally, the vote is as an expression of confidence in Japan and its revival,' he says.

complicit with a lying government, which will do everything in its power to misrepresent reality,
and boost a flailing economy courtesy of the funding surrounding the 2020 Olympics even as the
human cost of such a plan is, effectively, unknown and potentially unprecedented.

Finally, for those curious about the real state of play, we repost the four summary charts showing
what the current situation at Fuku truly is:

Contamination and Containment

A large part of the battle at Fukushima Daiichi is preventing radioactive contamination from
spreading out from the plant. Right after the accident, much of the radiation released from the
meltdowns was spread through the air. That's now less of a concern. The plant is no longer
spewing radioactive steam, and Tepco has taken steps to keep radioactive dust and other
particles from flying out of the damaged reactor buildings. But contaminated water is still a big
problem, with Tepco finding high levels of radioactive elements in wells and trenches at the site,
and in the sea itself. Tepco is trying to keep the water problem contained with walls, caps,
barriers and chemicals that harden soil.

Tepco has logged spiking levels of radioactive elements in groundwater near the damaged reactors. Although nearby trenches have shown higher levels, the radioactive groundwater is raising fears the contamination could spread.

TRITIUM A radioactive form of hydrogen
Byproduct of nuclear fission; also found in nature
Tends to flow along with water
HALF-LIFE around 12 years
Legal limit: 60,000 Bq/l
HIGHEST LEVELS
630,000 Bq/l
or 10 times the legal limit
Found July 8 in groundwater at the Fukushima Daiichi site, near the coast. This was 20% higher than found in the area in May
DANGER
■ Thought to be one of the least dangerous radioactive elements
■ Far less harmful to the human body than radioactive forms of cesium

CESIUM-137 Radioactive form of cesium, a soft, silvery metal
Byproduct of nuclear fission
Dissolves easily in water
Tends to bind with dirt
HALF-LIFE around 30 years
Legal limit: 90 Bq/l
HIGHEST LEVELS
22,000 Bq/l
or 240 times the legal limit
Found July 9, up 22% from a day earlier
DANGER
■ Emits strong gamma radiation, which can cause cancer
■ Concentrates in muscle tissue but tends to be excreted within a relatively short time
■ Long half-life makes it a major concern for radioactive contamination on land

CESIUM-134 Another radioactive form of cesium
HALF-LIFE around 2 years
Legal limit: 60 Bq/l
HIGHEST LEVELS
11,000 Bq/l
or 180 times the legal limit
Found July 9, up 22% from a day earlier
DANGER
■ Similar to cesium-137 but with much shorter half-life

STRONTIUM-90 A radioactive form of strontium, a silvery metal
Byproduct of nuclear fission
HALF-LIFE around 29 years
Legal limit: 30 Bq/l
HIGHEST LEVELS
1,200 Bq/l
or 33 times the legal limit
Found June 7
DANGER
■ Tends to accumulate in bone and bone marrow
■ Estimated to be twice as harmful to the human body as cesium-137
■ Internal exposure has been linked to bone cancer and leukemia