Monday night Fukushima update

[robdogbucky]

TEPCO tackles increasing contaminated water

The operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant says water accumulating in the basement of the No. 1 reactor building is contaminated with highly radioactive substances. The utility is battling to stop further leaks as the rainy season approaches.

Tokyo Electric Power Company detected 2 million becquerels of radioactive cesium per cubic centimeter of water in the basement of the No. 1 reactor building.

It speculates that radioactive substances from the melted fuel have leaked from the pressure vessel encasing the reactor core. Large amounts of contaminated water in the plant's buildings are hampering efforts to contain the situation.

Rain showers that began Sunday are causing the water levels in the No. 2 and 3 turbine buildings to rise at a faster pace of 3 to 4 millimeters per hour...

Tuesday, May 31, 2011 06:03 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/31_03.html




TEPCO waited 12 hours to announce pump failure at No. 5 reactor.

2011/05/31

Tokyo Electric Power Co. acknowledged it delayed announcing a pump failure at the No. 5 reactor of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, and that its backup plan did not run smoothly.

The utility learned of the failure at 9 p.m. on May 28, but it did not disclose the problem to the public until 9 a.m. the following day, during which time water in the reactor neared the boiling point.

The Fukushima prefectural government issued a warning to TEPCO to immediately disclose information concerning the crippled nuclear power plant, the company said.

The failure was caused by a defective electric circuit in a makeshift pump that injects seawater used to remove heat from the spent fuel rod storage pool and the reactor itself, TEPCO said...

http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201105300279.html





Japan could face overseas lawsuits from nuclear crisis.

BY KYOHEI MATSUDA STAFF WRITER

2011/05/31

Japan faces the possibility of having to pay huge compensation to overseas victims of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant because it has yet to sign any international convention that defines procedures for filing lawsuits for damages from a nuclear accident that extend beyond a nation's borders.

While the Kan administration has compiled a framework to provide support to Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the Fukushima plant, as it makes compensation payments, if lawsuits were filed overseas the total compensation could go much higher than current estimates of several trillions of yen.

There are three conventions which establish the standards for having the nation where a nuclear accident has occurred handle compensation lawsuits.

One is the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC), which was agreed to by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Japan had been asked by the United States to join the CSC and has been considering the move...

http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201105300181.html






Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Exposure of Tepco pair exceeds limit

Cumulative dose of workers over new crisis cap of 250 millisieverts

Kyodo

Two Tokyo Electric Power Co. employees working at the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant may have been exposed beyond the 250-millisievert limit set for the crisis, Tepco and the government said Monday.

The two men, one in his 30s and the other in his 40s, have been at the plant since the March 11 disasters triggered the crisis. Both may have a cumulative exposure of several hundred millisieverts, a company official said, while adding the two are "not at a stage that would require emergency medical treatment."

To cope with the country's worst nuclear plant crisis, the government raised the legal limit on the amount of radiation a worker can be exposed to in emergencies to 250 milliseiverts from 100 millisieverts.

The National Institute of Radiological Sciences is expected to conduct a detailed assessment of the workers' internal exposure to determine their total exposure, said Hidehiko Nishiyama, spokesman of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency...

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110531a1.html

[Forkboy]

1. K&R

A frustrating story made all the more because many saw a disaster of this type happening sooner or later and few listened or cared.

[Mojorabbit]

2. It seems they are trying so very hard but

that events keep piling up to almost make it impossible to get a handle on it.

[bananas]

3. Japan hasn't signed international conventions for international damages from a nuclear accident?

Liability was a big issue in India on Bush/Obamas "nukes-for-mangoes" deal.

Japan could face overseas lawsuits from nuclear crisis.

BY KYOHEI MATSUDA STAFF WRITER

2011/05/31

Japan faces the possibility of having to pay huge compensation to overseas victims of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant because it has yet to sign any international convention that defines procedures for filing lawsuits for damages from a nuclear accident that extend beyond a nation's borders.

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