by Nelle Maxey
Update #7 – May 26, 2011
More trouble with contaminated water reported at NHK today. Another 57 tons of contaminated water gone missing.
TEPCO probes into possible leak at Fukushima
The operator of Japan's troubled nuclear plant is trying to determine where contaminated water from a waste disposal facility is leaking to, after finding that the water level inside the facility has dropped.
Tokyo Electric Power Company has been removing highly radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi plant's crippled reactors to the waste disposal facility within the compound.
The utility suspended the transfer from the No.3 reactor on Thursday and checked the water level in its section of the disposal facility.
Engineers learned that the water level had dropped by 4.8 centimeters over a 20-hour period, meaning some 57 tons of water has been lost.
The utility says it inspected inside the disposal facility and found contaminated water leaking to a passageway leading to another building.
TEPCO attributes the problem to a failure to stop the water leaking before the transfer began.
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/26_34.html
TECPCO Backtracking on the "no earthquake damage" story
Quake may have damaged key piping at No.3 reactor
Tokyo Electric Power Company has released data which suggests the March 11th earthquake damaged a critical piping system in the No. 3 reactor at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
The utility said that analysis of pressure and temperature data from the days after the quake shows that the No.3 reactor lost its cooling system on March 13th. Much of its nuclear fuel likely melted down and collected at the bottom of the pressure vessel over the next 24 hours.
The analysis also shows that piping in an emergency cooling mechanism, known as a high-pressure coolant injection system, may have been damaged by the earthquake. The system is designed to maintain the water level inside the reactor vessel during an emergency.
The piping system is one of the plant's most important structures in terms of safety, and must be damage-proof.
Tokyo Electric refuses to confirm, however, that the key piping system was damaged by the quake, and suggests that it is possible a gauge malfunction may be to blame for the data fluctuation.
Experts note that extensive investigation is needed to examine whether the massive earthquake damaged the cooling system.
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/25_30.html
Nelle's comment on above story:
So TEPCO says there may have been a "gauge malfunction" that accounts for the drop in pressure in Unit 3, however this is NOT borne out by the parameter charts published by JANTI (Japan Nuclear Technology Institute)
http://www.gengikyo.jp/english/shokai/special_4.html.
(Click on "Parameters" file to download a pdf of the charts.)
Nitrogen injection into No.1 reactor stops again
Nitrogen injection to prevent a hydrogen explosion was stopped for more than 4 hours at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on Wednesday.
Engineers have been pumping nitrogen into the No.1 reactor since April 6th. The aim is to prevent another hydrogen blast when hydrogen – created when nuclear fuel reacts with water – builds up inside the containment vessel.
On Saturday, the device for pumping nitrogen temporarily stopped, but plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, quickly replaced it.
On Wednesday afternoon, the firm confirmed that the injection had been stopped again. TEPCO used another spare device and resumed work after at least 4 hours.
The plant operator says the stoppage caused only minor change in the pressure inside the containment vessel, and that there is no increase in the risk of a new hydrogen blast.
TEPCO is trying to identify the cause of the problem.
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/26_07.html
So who is buying the contaminated cattle and for what purpose?
Fukushima farmers auction off their beef cattle
Livestock farmers who have been urged to evacuate from areas near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant sold off about 400 heads of cattle at an extraordinary auction on Thursday.
The farmers who took part in the auction in Motomiya City came from Iitate Village and Kawamata Town located about 30 to 40 kilometers northwest of the plant. The government is urging the residents to evacuate by the end of this month for safety reasons.
After the auction, market officials said the calves were sold for slightly below their going price but adult cattle fetched market prices.
One farmer from Iitate Village said he will sell 2 remaining heads of cattle, close his business and evacuate to Fukushima City, located west of the village.
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/26_31.html
Greenpeace data on ocean contamination available here: