Fresh nuclear leak detected at Japan's Fukushima plant

[bananas]

Source: Agence France-Presse

Sensors at the Fukushima nuclear plant have detected a fresh leak of highly radioactive water to the sea, the plant's operator announced Sunday, highlighting difficulties in decommissioning the crippled plant.

Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said the sensors, which were rigged to a gutter that pours rain and ground water at the Fukushima Daiichi plant to a nearby bay, detected contamination levels up to 70 times greater than the already-high radioactive status seen at the plant campus.

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The latest incident, one of several that have plagued the plant in recent months, reflects the difficulty in controlling and decommissioning the plant, which went through meltdowns and explosions after being battered by a giant tsunami in March 2011, sparking the world's worst nuclear disaster in a generation.

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Adding to TEPCO's headaches has been the persistent flow of groundwater from nearby mountains travelling under the contaminated plant before washing to the Pacific Ocean.

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Read more: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/east-asia/story/fresh-nuclear-leak-detected-japans-fukushima-plant-20150222

[Mnemosyne]

1. Fresh leak, found among the continuous leaks since 3/11/11?

OK.

[Chemisse]

2. They've had several earthquakes off their east coast in the last couple of days

Which were 6 on the Richter scale. Perhaps that contributed.

[2naSalit]

4. That's what I was thinking

when I saw those this past week or so. I look almost every day. No big surprise that this happening, it became our future a long time ago.

[Art_from_Ark]

5. In Japan, the magnitude of an earthquake is not as important as its seismic intensity

The Japanese seismic intensity scale ("Shindo&quot is based on the potential damage that an earthquake can cause on land. A Shindo value of 4 or less is generally benign. Only 1 recent earthquake in Japan has had a Shindo rating of more than 4, and that was a Magnitude 5.9 earthquake that occurred off the coast of Iwate (up the coast from Fukushima) and rated a Shindo value of 5+, meaning some localized major damage was possible. But that high value was only in Aomori, which is even farther up the coast from Fukushima. Even the 6.9 quake that occurred the other day off the Sanriku coast only rated a top Shindo value of 4, and in the reactor area it was barely felt.

[Chemisse]

7. That is interesting.

I have never heard of this rating, but it makes sense that seismologists would be asked to find a way to communicate the relative danger of an earthquake to human populations.

[daleo]

9. Still, earthquakes can affect groundwater flows

And that could be significant for radioactive leakage.

[heaven05]

3. poor ocean

and all inhabitants of and by that ocean.

[They_Live]

6. This seems kind of important

I hope that someone has a plan to do something about it. This is a problem for the whole world, not just a "headache for poor TEPCO".

[silvershadow]

8. Translation: "We looked again, and, yep, it is still leaking, as it has been for 4 years now". nt

[ProudProg2u]

10. Oh,...I don't know...

We nuked them to stop WW2 ,...Now, its Ironic somehow I guess.