FIRE-EARTH Alert: Radioactive Leak – Norway

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FIRE-EARTH Alert: Radioactive Leak – Halden Reactor – Norway

• Details of the Alert are available from FIRE-EARTH PULSARS.

33 Hanford Workers Evaluated for Toxic Vapor Exposure in 5 Days

Elevated Radiation Detected near Second Failing Tank at Hanford Nuclear Site: Report

“Six more Hanford workers reported smelling odors in the AP tank farm where officials collected samples Tuesday. Washington River Protection Solutions says crews transported one worker to Kadlec for further evaluation. Doctors treated and released the employee,” said a report.

On April 26, Hanford Challenge stated that a “second high-level nuclear waste [double-shell] tank at the Hanford nuclear site may have failed.”

Elevated Radiation Indicator of Second Double-Shell Tank Failure at Hanford Nuclear Site: Plutonium, Cesium-137 Levels Detected in AY-101 Outer Shell

The group, citing sources inside Hanford, says that above-background levels of Cesium-137, plutonium and a high-beta emitter (likely Strontium-90) all radioactive by-products commonly found in Hanford tanks, were recently measured outside of the primary liner in Tank AY-101, one of the first of the 28 double-shelled tanks built at Hanford about 40 years ago.  Those measurements were confirmed to a high degree of certainty, according to Hanford sources.  Read more…

“There is litigation the Attorney General has filed to make sure that the federal government is observant to protect these workers. Very important,” said Gov. Inslee.

Three years ago…

6 Hanford Tanks Leaking Nuclear Waste: WA Gov

Posted by feww on February 23, 2013

Leaking tanks hold “two-thirds of the nation’s high-level nuclear waste”

Six Hanford underground tanks holding a brew of radioactive and toxic waste at the most contaminated nuclear site in the U.S. are leaking, says Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.

“None of these tanks would be acceptable for use today. They are all beyond their design life. None of them should be in service,” said Tom Carpenter of Hanford Challenge, a Hanford watchdog group. “And yet, they’re holding two-thirds of the nation’s high-level nuclear waste.”

Handford Site sits on 586-square-miles of shrub-steppe desert in southeastern Washington State, bordering the Columbia River. Six underground tanks are leaking radioactive waste. Hanford’s 177 tanks hold two-thirds of America’s high-level nuclear waste. Image source: United States Department of Energy

This aerial photo shows the Plutonium Finishing Plant complex. A red “X” has been placed on facilities that workers are demolishing. The plutonium vault complex consists of five ancillary structures and a larger building (2736-ZB) that once stored plutonium produced at Hanford during the Cold War for the U.S. nuclear weapons program. Source: US Dept of Energy

The tanks, built in the the 1940s with intended life span of 20 years, hold at least 53 million gallons (200 million liters) of highly radioactive waste, the leftover from plutonium production used in nuclear weapons.

State officials announced last week that one of Hanford’s 177 tanks was leaking up to 300 gallons a year, posing a risk to groundwater and rivers.

Gov Inslee said he had received the “very disturbing news” during meetings Friday that in fact six tanks are leaking.

Uncapped fuel stored underwater in K-East Basin. Source: US Dept of Energy

The authorities say they haven’t yet detected higher radioactivity levels at nearby monitoring wells.

Hanford, home to several tribes of Native Americans and a small agricultural community in the state of Washington,  was depopulated in 1943 along with the town of White Bluffs to make room for the nuclear production facility known as the Hanford Site.

Nuclear Reactor Shut Down after Radioactive Leak at Olkiluoto NPP, Finland

Defective fuel rods force reactor shutdown at Finland’s Olkiluoto 1

“​Defective fuel rods have been found at OL1 nuclear power plant unit. Electricity production at the plant unit will be stopped for the duration of the work on Monday 11 April 2016,” according to a press release issued by Teollisuuden Voima nuclear power company.

​Radioactive substances have been released from the defective fuel rods into the reactor water, the company said.

The reactor core has a total of 500 fuel assemblies, with about one hundred fuel rods embedded in in each assembly.

The BWR reactor became operational in October 1979.

Related Links

• How Do You Say ‘Duck-n-Cover’ in Finnish?

Another Nuclear Reactor in Japan Leaking Radioactive Water

Takahama nuclear power plant west of Tokyo leaks radioactive water

A pressurized water reactor (PWR) at Japan’s Takahama nuclear power plant, located in Fukui Prefecture, about 120km northwest of Osaka metropolitan area (pop: ~ 19 million) and 380km west of Tokyo, is leaking radioactive water.

The reactor would have been the fourth resume operation after the the nationwide shutdown of nuclear power stations that followed the triple  meltdown at Fukushima in March 2011.

At least 34 liters of radioactive water (about 64,000 becquerels of radioactivity) have escaped Takahama’s reactor No. 4, said the plant operator, Kansai Electric Power.

Unit 3 was restarted January 29, 2016, despite strong objections by various rights groups. “Restart of the Takahama plant is a human rights injustice toward children and those with handicaps,” said Aileen Mioko Smith, executive director of the antinuclear group Green Action.

“There is no evacuation plan in place for the tens of thousands of people with special needs — inpatients and outpatients at hospitals and various facilities, those in day care, and those with handicaps living at home. When others can flee, there are no vehicles to transport these people nor medical care prepared at the evacuation site.”

[More than 180,000 people live in 12 towns and cities within 30km radius of the leaky reactor, in Fukui, Kyoto and Shiga prefectures.]

The government introduced additional “safety measures” soon after the Fukushima disasters; however, reactors that didn’t meet the new safety standards were somehow made exempt from the regulation, and allowed to restart.

In April 2015, the Fukui District Court overturned an earlier decision approving the restart the of Takahama reactors 3 and 4 and ordered them to remain offline due to “safety concerns.” The court ruled that guidelines issued by Japan’s governmental Nuclear Regulation Authority.

“The new regulations are not reasonable, therefore there is no need to study whether the Takahama plant satisfies them. There is little rational basis for saying that an earthquake with a magnitude that exceeds the safety standard will not occur. It is an optimistic view,” ruled the local judge.

The court also rejected an appeal by Kansai Electric Company in May, 2015.

Map of Japan’s Nuclear Power Plants. Click image to enlarge.

Unsurprisingly, influential members of Japan’s “fifth Column”, which support the Abe government and the nuclear mafia, namely a former Tokyo high court judge and current Chou Law School Professor Jun Masuda, as well as Japan’s newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun, heavily criticized the presiding Judge Hideaki Higuchi.

Masuda said: “It seems the judge has already had the idea of demanding absolute safety from the beginning. Judges are not experts on nuclear power plants, so it is imperative that they humbly pay attention to scientific knowledge. I doubt the presiding judge took that into consideration.”

The reactionary newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun pinioned: “We have no choice but to call it an irrational decision,” and, “Such a stance seeking zero risk is unrealistic.”

Abe’s government overrode the judge’s ruling and ordered the reactors’ restart.

Radioactivity at Indian Point Spiked by 65,000 percent

Radioactive tritium-contaminated water leaked into groundwater at Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant

Radioactive tritium-contaminated water leaked into the groundwater at the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant.  The company reported massive levels of radioactivity at three monitoring wells, with one well’s radioactivity spiking 650 times from 12,300 picocuries per liter to over 8,000,000 picocuries per liter, or a rise of 65,000 percent, said NY Governor Cuomo.

Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant is located close to 2 active earthquake faults, with about 6 percent of the US population living within a 50-mile radius of the failing reactors.

[Dated February 6, 2016] Statement from Governor Cuomo Regarding Indian Point Nuclear Facility:

“Yesterday I learned that radioactive tritium-contaminated water leaked into the groundwater at the Indian Point Nuclear facility.  The company reported alarming levels of radioactivity at three monitoring wells, with one well’s radioactivity increasing nearly 65,000 percent. The facility reports that the contamination has not migrated off site and as such does not pose an immediate threat to public health.

The levels of radioactivity reported this week are significantly higher than in past incidents.

“Our first concern is for the health and safety of the residents close to the facility and ensuring the groundwater leak ‎does not pose a threat. [If true, the leaky plant should have been decommissioned years ago! —Ed]

This is not the first such release of radioactive water at Indian Point, nor is this the first time that Indian Point has experienced significant failure in its operation and maintenance. This failure continues to demonstrate that Indian Point cannot continue to operate in a manner that is protective of public health and the environment.

“This latest failure at Indian Point is unacceptable and I have directed Department of Environmental Conservation Acting Commissioner Basil Seggos and Department of Health Commissioner Howard Zucker to fully investigate this incident and employ all available measures, including working with Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to determine the extent of the release, its likely duration, cause and potential impacts to the environment and public health.”

Cuomo’s letter directing Acting Commissioner Seggos and Commissioner Zucker to  begin their investigation can be viewed here. [Don’t hold your breath! —Ed.]

Related Links

• Indian Point 3 Shuts Down after ‘Electrical Disturbance’ June 16, 2015
• Indian Point Nuke Plant Going Gone?  April 6, 2010
• Fish, Fish Eggs Holocaust December 29, 2008

The following video was published by Riverkeeper at http://www.riverkeeper.org

Hundreds of Bags Containing Fukushima Radioactive Waste Swept Away by Severe Floods

Floods submerge seven radioactive waste storage sites for Fukushima meltdowns

Seven storage sites holding radioactive waste from Fukushima triple meltdowns were submerged by torrential rain in eastern Japan on Sept. 11, according to local reports.

“The temporary storage sites, located in Kawamata, Naraha and other municipalities near the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, store soil, grass and other radiation-tainted waste generated by decontamination work due to the 2011 triple meltdown,” said Asahi Shimbun.

Floodwater washed away 82 bags containing radioactive waste, said the Environment Ministry on Friday, local media reported.

Additionally, at least 341 waste bags containing radioactive substances from Fukushima nuclear decontamination work have been swept into local rivers, the Nikko Municipal Government has announced.

Seventeen of the bags, each with a capacity of 1 cubic meter, were recovered empty. The contaminated soil and weeds inside the bags had been lost, said Nikko city officials.

Last week, more than 400 bags containing radioactive waste were washed away from the village of Iitate, said local media. Some 171 bags were later retrieved.

The Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, contaminated rainwater from the drainage system that encircles the reactor buildings spilled into the ocean on Sept. 9 and Sept. 11, said.

“Due to typhoon no.18 (Etau), heavy rain caused Fukushima Daiichi K drainage rainwater to overflow to the sea, on September 9th and 11th,” said Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO).

1.1 Tons of Radioactive Water Leaks from Fukushima

NOTE: Many of the links posted below have previously been blocked or buried by Google, WordPress and others.

SNAFU IN JAPAN
CRIMINAL INCOMPETENCE AT FUKUSHIMA
“COSMIC-LEVEL” RADIATION LEAKS
ENVIRONMENTAL HOLOCAUST
CRIMES AGAINST NATURE
.

Massive leak occurs in a treatment system at Fukushima nuclear plant: TEPCO

The criminally negligent operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has admitted that yet another major setback has plagued a key system used to decontaminate highly-radioactive water.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) says about 1,100 liters of radioactive water overflowed into a barrier inside the ALPS building.

The water was used to wash contaminated equipment and overflowed from  a storage facility on Wednesday.

Comedy of Deadly Errors

The workers discovered the leak while cleaning a tank used for filtering radioactive substances from water. The tank is on one of the 3 separate stages  of the Advanced Liquid Processing System, or ALPS, local media reported TEPCO as saying.

The operator says the water contains more than 3.8 million becquerels of beta ray emitting materials including strontium and 6,700 becquerels of cesium 137.

On Tuesday, TEPCO reported that 203 tons of highly contaminated radioactive water had been pumped into a basement area at the Fukushima between April 10-13.

The building is neither a storage area nor a processing facility. The pumps  had diverted the contaminated water to the wrong building, the  company said.

TEPCO says it found four pumps operating at the location that were not even meant to be used.

[The deadly water may have been pumped intentionally by operators, sources suggest. Editor]

The water contained radioactive cesium decaying at a rate of 37 million becquerels per liter.

Highly contaminated water leaked from yet another  storage tank at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan.  Handout photo released by TEPCO on February 20.

On October 18, 2013 FIRE-EARTH said [but was censored by Google, WordPress and others]:

• Fukushima Potentially More Disastrous Than Hiroshima

On November 7, 2013 FIRE-EARTH said [but was censored by Google, WordPress and others]:

• Scale of potential catastrophe at Fukushima could dwarf a limited nuclear war.

On January 13, 2014 FIRE-EARTH said [but was censored by Google, WordPress and others]:

THE TEPCO REPORT, QUOTED BY JAPAN’S ASAHI SHIMBUN, MAY BE SERIOUSLY FLAWED.

ACCORDING TO http://new.atmc.jp/ THE RADIATION LEVEL AT OR NEAR FUKUSHIMA PLANT IS ≥ 40 MICROSIEVERT PER HOUR (OR ~ 350 mSv/yr)

NOTES:

1. Radiation dose of about 2,000 millisieverts (200,000 millirems) cause serious illness.

2. Average background radiation in the US is about 3 mS/yr. [Ironically, the average background radiation in many parts of Japan is about 1mS/yr, or a third of that in the U.S.]

3. The average annual radiation dose per person in the U.S. is currently 620 millirem (6.2 mSv), according to EPA. “Half of our average dose comes from natural background sources: cosmic radiation from space, naturally occurring radioactive minerals in the ground and in your body, and from the radioactive gases radon and thoron, which are created when other naturally occurring elements undergo radioactive decay. Another 48 percent of our dose comes from medical diagnostics and treatments.”

100 tons of highly radioactive water leaking here, 200 tons leaking there, and soon we’ll be talking big contamination!!! 

Related Links

• Record-high Radioactive Water Leaks at Fukushima NPP February 20, 2014

For earlier links search:

• Radiation Levels at Fukushima Hugely Underestimated: TEPCO February 8, 2014
• Look for the Cracks!  January 21, 2014
• “Radioactive River” Flowing at Fukushima No. 3 Reactor January 20, 2014
• Fukushima Radiation Level 8 Times* Govt Standard: TEPCO January 13, 2014
• Record Radiation Detected at Fukushima [AGAIN] December 22, 2013
• Japan Renews Nuke Ambitions Despite Fukushima, Common Sense December 14, 2013
• Record Outdoor Radiation Level Detected at Nuked Fukushima Plant December 9, 2013
• TEPCO Continues to Contaminate the World October 3, 2013
• 80 Percent Chance of Major Catastrophe at Fukushima NPP November 7, 2013
• Crimes Against Nature: Water Overflows from 12 Fukushima Barriers October 21, 2013
• Fukushima Potentially More Disastrous Than Hiroshima October 18, 2013
• Fukushima Fatal Farce Turns Deadlier September 1, 2013

 

Record-high Radioactive Water Leaks at Fukushima NPP

NOTE: Many of the links posted below have previously been blocked or buried by Google, WordPress and others

SNAFU IN JAPAN
CRIMINAL INCOMPETENCE AT FUKUSHIMA
“COSMIC-LEVEL” RADIATION LEAK
CRIMES AGAINST NATURE
.

100 tons of highly radioactive water has leaked out of a tank: TEPCO

The criminally incompetent operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says 100 tons of contaminated water containing record high levels of radioactive substances have overflowed from a storage tank.

Officials at Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said on Thursday workers had found the highly contaminated, massive leak in one of the tanks near the Number 4 reactor building Wednesday night.

The spill contained an extraordinarily high 230-million becquerels per liter of beta-ray emitting substances, which is about 7.6 million times the government’s standard for contaminated water that can be released into the sea.

Highly contaminated water leaked from a storage tank at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan.  Handout photo released by TEPCO on February 20, 2014. (via Reuters).

On October 18, 2013 FIRE-EARTH said [but was censored by Google, WordPress and others]:

• Fukushima Potentially More Disastrous Than Hiroshima

On November 7, 2013 FIRE-EARTH said [but was censored by Google, WordPress and others]:

• Scale of potential catastrophe at Fukushima could dwarf a limited nuclear war.

On January 13, 2014 FIRE-EARTH said [but was censored by Google, WordPress and others]:

THE TEPCO REPORT, QUOTED BY JAPAN’S ASAHI SHIMBUN, MAY BE SERIOUSLY FLAWED.

ACCORDING TO http://new.atmc.jp/ THE RADIATION LEVEL AT OR NEAR FUKUSHIMA PLANT IS ≥ 40 MICROSIEVERT PER HOUR (OR ~ 350 mSv/yr)

NOTES:

1. Radiation dose of about 2,000 millisieverts (200,000 millirems) cause serious illness.

2. Average background radiation in the US is about 3 mS/yr. [Ironically, the average background radiation in many parts of Japan is about 1mS/yr, or a third of that in the U.S.]

3. The average annual radiation dose per person in the U.S. is currently 620 millirem (6.2 mSv), according to EPA. “Half of our average dose comes from natural background sources: cosmic radiation from space, naturally occurring radioactive minerals in the ground and in your body, and from the radioactive gases radon and thoron, which are created when other naturally occurring elements undergo radioactive decay. Another 48 percent of our dose comes from medical diagnostics and treatments.”

Related Links

• Radiation Levels at Fukushima Hugely Underestimated: TEPCO February 8, 2014
• Look for the Cracks!  January 21, 2014
• “Radioactive River” Flowing at Fukushima No. 3 Reactor January 20, 2014
• Fukushima Radiation Level 8 Times* Govt Standard: TEPCO January 13, 2014
• Record Radiation Detected at Fukushima [AGAIN] December 22, 2013
• Japan Renews Nuke Ambitions Despite Fukushima, Common Sense December 14, 2013
• Record Outdoor Radiation Level Detected at Nuked Fukushima Plant December 9, 2013
• TEPCO Continues to Contaminate the World October 3, 2013
• 80 Percent Chance of Major Catastrophe at Fukushima NPP November 7, 2013
• Crimes Against Nature: Water Overflows from 12 Fukushima Barriers October 21, 2013
• Fukushima Potentially More Disastrous Than Hiroshima October 18, 2013
• Fukushima Fatal Farce Turns Deadlier September 1, 2013

For additional links to the never-ending nuclear disaster at Fukushima, search blog content, where they have not been hacked.

Radiation Levels at Fukushima Hugely Underestimated: TEPCO

NOTE: Many of the links posted below have previously been blocked or buried by Google, WordPress and others

“NEVER-ENDING” NUCLEAR DISASTER
.

TEPCO admits serious flaws in its Fukushima radiation readings

The operator of the nuked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant said it will review its radiation data because their initial readings may be seriously flawed.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) says it detected radiation levels of 5 million becquerels per liter of radioactive strontium in groundwater samples collected last July from one of its wells near the ocean.

The radioactivity level is more than 160,000 times the regulatory maximum  for radioactive wastewater allowed to be released into the sea.

A team [of well-paid observers]  from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) holding hands singing kumbaya at Fukushima, December 2013. “The team has praised Japan for making progress in stabilizing the Fukushima nuclear plant,” reported BBC. Image IAEA handout via Reuters/BBC.

Based on the latest admission, TEPCO now estimates with that level of radioactive strontium present, the count for beta-emitting radioactive substances must be 10 million becquerels per liter, or 11 times their initial estimate of 900,000 becquerels per liter, reported NHK.

The plant operator attributes the error to incorrect measuring methods that were in place until last October.

TEPCO says it will review other data acquired using the old, improper method, including the radiation level of more than 300 tons of toxic waste water that leaked from a storage tank in August 2013.

The initial reading for the leaked radioactive water showed up to 80-million becquerels per liter of beta ray-emitting substances, including strontium, said the report.

On October 18, 2013 FIRE-EARTH said [but was censored by Google, WordPress and others]:

• Fukushima Potentially More Disastrous Than Hiroshima

On November 7, 2013 FIRE-EARTH said [but was censored by Google, WordPress and others]:

• Scale of potential catastrophe at Fukushima could dwarf a limited nuclear war.

On January 13, 2014 FIRE-EARTH said [but was censored by Google, WordPress and others]:

THE TEPCO REPORT, QUOTED BY JAPAN’S ASAHI SHIMBUN, MAY BE SERIOUSLY FLAWED.

ACCORDING TO http://new.atmc.jp/ THE RADIATION LEVEL AT OR NEAR FUKUSHIMA PLANT IS ≥ 40 MICROSIEVERT PER HOUR (OR ~ 350 mSv/yr)

NOTES:

1. Radiation dose of about 2,000 millisieverts (200,000 millirems) cause serious illness.

2. Average background radiation in the US is about 3 mS/yr.]

3. The average annual radiation dose per person in the U.S. is currently 620 millirem (6.2 mSv), according to EPA. “Half of our average dose comes from natural background sources: cosmic radiation from space, naturally occurring radioactive minerals in the ground and in your body, and from the radioactive gases radon and thoron, which are created when other naturally occurring elements undergo radioactive decay. Another 48 percent of our dose comes from medical diagnostics and treatments.”

Related Links

• Look for the Cracks!  January 21, 2014
• “Radioactive River” Flowing at Fukushima No. 3 Reactor January 20, 2014
• Fukushima Radiation Level 8 Times* Govt Standard: TEPCO January 13, 2014
• Record Radiation Detected at Fukushima [AGAIN] December 22, 2013
• Japan Renews Nuke Ambitions Despite Fukushima, Common Sense December 14, 2013
• Record Outdoor Radiation Level Detected at Nuked Fukushima Plant December 9, 2013
• TEPCO Continues to Contaminate the World October 3, 2013
• 80 Percent Chance of Major Catastrophe at Fukushima NPP November 7, 2013
• Crimes Against Nature: Water Overflows from 12 Fukushima Barriers October 21, 2013
• Fukushima Potentially More Disastrous Than Hiroshima October 18, 2013
• Fukushima Fatal Farce Turns Deadlier September 1, 2013

For additional links to the never-ending nuclear disaster at Fukushima, search blog content, where they have not been hacked.

Look for the Cracks!

NOTE: At least two of the links posted below have previously been censored by Google and WordPress

ONGOING NUCLEAR DISASTER
.

Fukushima Farce: Look for the cracks and ya shall find them at the and of the brook!

A day or so after FIRE-EARTH Editor suggested radioactive leaks inside the No. 3 reactor building most probably came from cracks in the containment vessel, the plant operator TEPCO says they suspect the leak originates from around an opening in the containment vessel which connects to a steam pipe.

TEPCO says the area around the opening had previously been sealed with resin, but the substance likely deteriorated after being exposed to the heat from the melted fuel and salt from sea water poured into the vessels immediately after the disaster to cool down the chamber.

Technicians are now planning to locate the racks in the containment vessel and seal them, TEPCO said. [DO NOT use the same type of resin!!! Editor.]

Once they have sealed the cracks, they can refill the vessel with water and remove the melted fuel, at least in theory.

However, they cannot enter the reactor building without being exposed to cosmic levels of radiation.

On October 18, 2013 FIRE-EARTH said [and Google/Wordpress censored]: Fukushima Potentially More Disastrous Than Hiroshima

On November 7, 2013 FIRE-EARTH said [and Google/Wordpress censored]: Scale of potential catastrophe at Fukushima could dwarf a limited nuclear war.

Related Links

• “Radioactive River” Flowing at Fukushima No. 3 Reactor January 20, 2014

• Fukushima Radiation Level 8 Times* Govt Standard: TEPCO January 13, 2014
• Record Radiation Detected at Fukushima [AGAIN] December 22, 2013
• Japan Renews Nuke Ambitions Despite Fukushima, Common Sense December 14, 2013
• Record Outdoor Radiation Level Detected at Nuked Fukushima Plant December 9, 2013
• TEPCO Continues to Contaminate the World October 3, 2013
• 80 Percent Chance of Major Catastrophe at Fukushima NPP November 7, 2013
• Crimes Against Nature: Water Overflows from 12 Fukushima Barriers October 21, 2013
• Fukushima Potentially More Disastrous Than Hiroshima October 18, 2013
• Fukushima Fatal Farce Turns Deadlier September 1, 2013

For additional links to the ongoing nuclear disaster at Fukushima, search blog content.

“Radioactive River” Flowing at Fukushima No. 3 Reactor

NOTE: At least two of the links posted below have previously been censored by Google/WordPress

ONGOING NUCLEAR DISASTER
.

Stream of radioactive water 30-cm wide continuously flowing at Reactor No.3

The plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), says the radioactive water leaking from the number 3 reactor building is most probably coming from the containment vessel.

A camera installed on a robot took a video of the radioactive stream on the first floor of the reactor building on Saturday. The stream, 30cm wide, is continuously flowing into a drain, said TEPCO.

“Radiactive River” at Fukushima Reactor No. 3. Source: Screenshot from TEPCO video broadcast by NHK.

Technicians have detected 24 million becquerels per liter of beta ray-emitting radioactive substances, including strontium, as well as 1.7 million becquerels per liter of Cesium 137, TEPCO said in a statement.

That level of contamination is almost as high as the radioactive materials in the water that has been accumulating in the basement of reactor building.

The water temperature is about 20ºC, which matches the temperature of the water at the bottom of the reactor [containment vessel,] said TEPCO.

TEPCO officials believe the water for cooling melted fuel in the containment vessel is leaking for reason that are unknown to them. [Try cracks in the containment vessel. Editor]

The company said they will continue with their investigation until they get to the bottom of it (!)

On November 7, 2013 FIRE-EARTH said [and Google/Wordpress censored]:

Scale of potential catastrophe at Fukushima could dwarf a limited nuclear war.

Related Links

• Fukushima Radiation Level 8 Times* Govt Standard: TEPCO January 13, 2014
• Record Radiation Detected at Fukushima [AGAIN] December 22, 2013
• Japan Renews Nuke Ambitions Despite Fukushima, Common Sense December 14, 2013
• Record Outdoor Radiation Level Detected at Nuked Fukushima Plant December 9, 2013
• TEPCO Continues to Contaminate the World October 3, 2013
• 80 Percent Chance of Major Catastrophe at Fukushima NPP November 7, 2013
• Crimes Against Nature: Water Overflows from 12 Fukushima Barriers October 21, 2013
• Fukushima Potentially More Disastrous Than Hiroshima October 18, 2013
• Fukushima Fatal Farce Turns Deadlier September 1, 2013

For additional links to ongoing nuclear disaster at Fukushima, search blog content.

Taiwan Nuke Plant Leaking Radioactive Water

Taiwan’s oldest nuclear plant leaking radioactive water for 3 years: Watchdog

The 35-yo Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant in Shimen, New Taipei City, has been leaking radioactive water since 2010, according to the government’s nuclear watchdog.

Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower), which operates the island’s 3 nuclear plants, has denied the leak coming from the storage pools, alleging instead that the water comes from condensation, or external cleaning.

The watchdog, Control Yuan, doesn’t buy the operator’s explanation.

“Taiwan has also had problems on what to do with its nuclear waste, which for many years was dumped on a small island off its southeast coast, to the anger of its aboriginal inhabitants,” said a report.

Taiwan has three nuke plants which include a total of 6 reactors. Nuclear power accounts for about a fifth of the island’s electricity production.

• Typhoon SOULIK, which struck Taiwan on July 13, caused a generator and turbine trip, leaving a seawater inlet blocked and damaging three fine filters as well as a traveling filter rake, said a report.

The Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant in Shihmen District, New Taipei City, is pictured on March 15 during a media visit organized by Taiwan Power Co, which operates the nation’s nuclear power stations. Photo credit: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times

Summary of the report issued by Control Yuan: The plant’s reactors No. 1 and No. 2 reactors have leaked a total of 15,369.61 milliliters and 4,829.66ml of water respectively since 2010

Atomic Energy Council have repeatedly found radioactive substances, such as cesium-137, cobalt-60, manganese-54 and sodium chromate, in the leakage.

Taipower has given inconsistent explanations for the leaks and has claimed that the water was not from the spent fuel pools, which is inconsistent with the Atomic Energy Council’s findings.

The Control Yuan report also reprimanded Taipower for two other problems regarding spent fuel storage:

First: Taipower delaying for more than 10 years the construction of interim nuclear waste storage facilities, which could result in the spent fuel in the No. 1 reactor exceeding the pool’s maximum capacity in its next maintenance overhaul, which is set for November next year.

Second:  was that since Taipower says it lost a report on spent nuclear fuel storage and management that it commissioned from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory of the US in 1987, the evaluation process the plant’s storage technology was subjected to at the time is unknown, the report said.

Probability of a Nuclear Disaster by Country

Nuclear power is harmful to the planet and all lifeforms. Any nuclear disaster striking anywhere on the planet has global implications.

The following probability figures  calculated by FIRE-EARTH on April 8, 2011 still hold!

• Japan (880)³
• United States (865)
• France (855)
• Taiwan (850)
• Belgium, China, Finland, India,  South Korea, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Russia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Armenia, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania,  Hungary, Bulgaria, Spain,  Pakistan, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico,  South Africa, Canada (810)
• Germany, Sweden, Netherlands (800)
• Switzerland  (750)

Notes:

1. The list represents a snapshot of events at the time of calculating the probabilities. Any forecast posted  here is subject to numerous variable factors.
2. Figures in the bracket represent the probability of an incident occurring out of 1,000; the forecast duration is valid for the next 50  months.
3. Probability includes a significant worsening of Fukushima nuclear disaster, and future quakes forecast for Japan.
4. A nuclear incident is defined as a level 5 (Accident With Wider Consequences), or worse, on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES). See below.
5. Safety issues considered in compiling these lists include the age, number of units and capacity of nuclear reactors in each country/state, previous incidents, probability of damage from human-enhanced natural disasters, e.g., earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic activity, hurricanes, tornadoes, storms, wildfires, flooding…]
6. The  Blog’s knowledge concerning the extent to which the factors described in (3) might worsen during the forecast period greatly influences the forecast. (Last UPDATED: June 26, 2011)

Half-life of some radioactive elements

[NOTE: Half-life is the time taken for a radioactive substance to decay by half.]

• Cesium-134 ~ 2  years
• Cesium-137 ~ 30 years
• Iodine-131 ~ 8 days
• Plutonium-239 ~ 24,200 years

• Ruthenium-103 ~ 39 days [Ruthenium is a fission product of uranium-235.]
• Ruthenium-106 ~ 374 days
• Strontium-90 ~ 28.85 years  [Strontium-90 is a product of nuclear fission and is found in large amounts in spent nuclear fuel and in radioactive waste from nuclear reactors.]

• Uranium-234 ~  246,000 years
• Uranium-235 ~ 703.8  million years
• Uranium-238  ~ 4.468 billion years

What is a lethal dose of radiation from a single Exposure?

Studies of the 1945 atomic bombing at Hiroshima and Nagasaki show that 100 percent of victims whose bodies were exposed to 600,000 millirems (6,000 mSv) died from radiation. About 50 percent of victims who received  450,000 millirems (4,500 mSv) of radiation also died.

(Note: Rem is a unit of ionizing radiation equal to the amount that produces the same damage to humans as one roentgen of high-voltage x-rays.  Source: MIT)

1 rem = 10 mSv  (1 Sv = 100 rem)

Background Radiation in millirems per year (mrem/yr)

• Average background radiation (US):  300
• Higher altitudes (eg. Denver): 400

“Safe Levels” of Radiation (U.S.)

Limits above natural background radiation levels (average 300 millirems per year) and medical radiation:

• Occupation Limit: Maximum of 5,000  (the limit for a worker using radiation)
• Average Natural Background: 300

[Note: Lifetime cumulative exposure should be limited to a person’s age multiplied by 1,000 millirems, e.g., a 70-year-old person, 70,000 millirems.]

Adults

• Max single dose for an adult: 3,000
• Annual total dose: 5,000

Under 18

• Max single dose for a person aged under 18 years: 300 millirems (whole body equivalent)
• Annual total exposure: 500

Fetal Exposure

• Maximum limit for fetal exposure during gestation period:  50 millirems per month above background levels

Medical

• Single Chest X-ray (the whole body equivalent): 2 millirem

Air Travel

• Coast-to-coast US round trip flight: 12 millirems

Megaquake and Tsunami Death Toll

The latest figures released by the authorities put the number of dead at about  12,000 with 16,000 people still listed as missing.

Related Links

• Probability of a Nuclear Disaster – by Country
• Nuclear Power
• S. Korea planning 11 additional reactors, despite  running out of nuclear waste storage capacity
• Radioactive Water at Fukushima an ‘Emergency’: Watchdog August 5, 2013

Radioactive Water at Fukushima an ‘Emergency’: Watchdog

EXCLUSIVE

TEPCO’s “sense of crisis is weak:”  Japan’s NRA

Highly radioactive water from Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is leaking into the ocean creating an “emergency” that the operator, TEPCO, may be unable to contain, said an official from the country’s nuclear watchdog.

“This contaminated groundwater has breached an underground barrier, is rising toward the surface and is exceeding legal limits of radioactive discharge, Shinji Kinjo, head of a Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) task force,” told Reuters.

Tokyo Electric Power Co’s “sense of crisis is weak,” Kinjo said. “This is why you can’t just leave it up to Tepco alone” to deal with the ongoing disaster.

“Right now, we have an emergency,” he said.

A total of up to 40 trillion becquerels of radioactive tritium may have leaked into the ocean since the disaster, said TEPCO, insisting that it was within legal limits.

• Full report is posted HERE.
• Related news link: Radioactive Fukushima groundwater rises above barrier

Probability of a Nuclear Disaster by Country

The following probability figures  calculated by FIRE-EARTH on April 8, 2011 still hold!

• Japan (880)³
• United States (865)
• France (855)
• Taiwan (850)
• Belgium, China, Finland, India,  South Korea, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Russia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Armenia, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania,  Hungary, Bulgaria, Spain,  Pakistan, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico,  South Africa, Canada (810)
• Germany, Sweden, Netherlands (800)
• Switzerland  (750)

Notes:

1. The list represents a snapshot of events at the time of calculating the probabilities. Any forecast posted  here is subject to numerous variable factors.
2. Figures in the bracket represent the probability of an incident occurring out of 1,000; the forecast duration is valid for the next 50  months.
3. Probability includes a significant worsening of Fukushima nuclear disaster, and future quakes forecast for Japan.
4. A nuclear incident is defined as a level 5 (Accident With Wider Consequences), or worse, on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES). See below.
5. Safety issues considered in compiling these lists include the age, number of units and capacity of nuclear reactors in each country/state, previous incidents, probability of damage from human-enhanced natural disasters, e.g., earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic activity, hurricanes, tornadoes, storms, wildfires, flooding…]
6. The  Blog’s knowledge concerning the extent to which the factors described in (3) might worsen during the forecast period greatly influences the forecast. (Last UPDATED: June 26, 2011)

Nuclide Analysis Results of the Underground Reservoirs

• Nuclide Analysis Results of the Underground Reservoirs/Observation Holes (As of August 4) – TEPCO Website

Related Links

• Nuke Disasters
• Japan Quakes
• Probability of a Nuclear Disaster by Country
• Record High Radiation Found in Fukushima Fish March 1, 2013
• Radiation Record Broken by Fukushima Fish March 18, 2013
• Fukushima Pre-Harvested Rice Contaminated by Radiation September 24, 2011
• Japan Earthquakes, Disasters: Recent History and FIRE-EARTH Forecasts

Also search the blog for dozens of additional entries on “Fukushima.”

Global Disasters/ Significant Events Headlines – 6 April 2013

Fukushima Nuke Plant Leaking Large Quantities of Radioactive Water

Up to 120 tons of radioactive water may have leaked from one of the seven underground storage tanks at Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, contaminating the surrounding ground, Tokyo Electric Power Co was reported as saying.

The storage tanks hold about 13,000 cubic meters of contaminated water, which  TEPCO is transferring to other tanks nearby, Kyodo news wire quoted the utility as saying.

Third large oil spill in 7 days: Shell Pipeline ruptures in Texas

Thousands of gallons of oil have spilled from Shell Pipeline in West Columbia, Texas, the third incident of the kind in a week, said a report.

Manatee death toll rising in Florida despite Red Tide ebbing

Red Tide, a deadly algae bloom, has killed at least 241 manatees in Florida so far this year, surpassing the previous record of 151 deaths set in 1996.

The recent Red Tide bloom in the Gulf of Mexico began in September 2012  covering a 70-mile (113-km) stretch of southwest Florida’s coast from Sarasota County to Lee County, which is  home to a large population of the state’s estimated 5,000 manatees, said a report.

Karenia brevis. Photo:  FFWCC

Meanwhile, deaths of 85 manatees since July on Florida’s Atlantic coast remain a mystery. The mass die-off occurred  in the Indian River Lagoon, Brevard County.

• Red Tide Kills Millions of Fish Along Texas Coast

Mount Karangetang: A Mountain of Fire

Lava spewes from the top of Mount Karangetang. Photo: AFP. Image may be subject to copyright.

• One of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia, Karangetang, aka, Api Siau, is a located on the northern part of Siau Island.
• Karangetang was one of the three volcanoes that erupted after the The Great East Japan Earthquake struck on March 11, 2011.

Frozen Britain

UK temperatures over the past week fell to among the coldest experienced in April for nearly 100 years, with maximum temperatures barely above the freezing in many parts of the southeast, reports said.

At -11.2ºC (11.8 degrees Fahrenheit), the village of Braemar in Scotland, about 90 km west of Aberdeen, held the joint coldest weather anywhere in the UK in April for nearly a century.

US Weather: Snow Impacting the Upper Midwest and Northern Great Lakes

‘A storm system moving through the Upper Midwest will bring a round of late-season winter weather to parts of the northern Great Lakes region on Saturday. The heaviest snow will fall from northeastern Minnesota through northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. These areas could see up to 6 inches of snow.’ NOAA reported.

• How Homo Ignarus Killed Spring

Previous Global Disasters/ Significant Events Headlines

• Global Disasters/ Significant Events Headlines – 2 April 2013

6 Hanford Tanks Leaking Nuclear Waste: WA Gov

Leaking tanks hold “two-thirds of the nation’s high-level nuclear waste”

Six Hanford underground tanks holding a brew of radioactive and toxic waste at the most contaminated nuclear site in the U.S. are leaking, says Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.

“None of these tanks would be acceptable for use today. They are all beyond their design life. None of them should be in service,” said Tom Carpenter of Hanford Challenge, a Hanford watchdog group. “And yet, they’re holding two-thirds of the nation’s high-level nuclear waste.”

Handford Site sits on 586-square-miles of shrub-steppe desert in southeastern Washington State, bordering the Columbia River. Six underground tanks are leaking radioactive waste. Hanford’s 177 tanks hold two-thirds of America’s high-level nuclear waste. Image source: United States Department of Energy

This aerial photo shows the Plutonium Finishing Plant complex. A red “X” has been placed on facilities that workers are demolishing. The plutonium vault complex consists of five ancillary structures and a larger building (2736-ZB) that once stored plutonium produced at Hanford during the Cold War for the U.S. nuclear weapons program. Source: US Dept of Energy

The tanks, built in the the 1940s with intended life span of 20 years, hold at least 53 million gallons (200 million liters) of highly radioactive waste, the leftover from plutonium production used in nuclear weapons.

State officials announced last week that one of Hanford’s 177 tanks was leaking up to 300 gallons a year, posing a risk to groundwater and rivers.

Gov Inslee said he had received the “very disturbing news” during meetings Friday that in fact six tanks are leaking.

Uncapped fuel stored underwater in K-East Basin. Source: US Dept of Energy

The authorities say they haven’t yet detected higher radioactivity levels at nearby monitoring wells.

Hanford, home to several tribes of Native Americans and a small agricultural community in the state of Washington,  was depopulated in 1943 along with the town of White Bluffs to make room for the nuclear production facility known as the Hanford Site.

Related Links

• FIRE-EARTH Nuclear Alerts

.

February 23, 2013 – DISASTER CALENDAR SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,113 Days Left 

Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,113 Days Left to ‘Worst Day’ in the brief Human  History
• The countdown began on May 15, 2011 …

GLOBAL WARNINGS

• WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity
• WARNING: RAPID PLANETARY DECLINE IN PROGRESS!
• Europe: The First Phase of Collapse Has Started 
• United States: The First Phase of Collapse Has Begun

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

Japan’s Fukushima Nuke Plant Still Leaking

Radioactive water leaking from Fukushima NPP

Some 15 tons of radioactive water have leaked from a storage tank at the stricken Fukushima NPP, Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency reported.

The plant operators, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), continue to accumulate large volumes of radioactive contaminated water after being used to cool the melting reactors.

Meantime, TEPCO’s majority institutional shareholders have nixed a motion by a large number of individual shareholders to abandon nuclear energy in the wake of the Fukushima plant’s triple core meltdown.

Probability of a Nuclear Disaster by Country

The following probability figures are calculated by FIRE-EARTH on April 8, 2011

• Japan (880)³
• United States (865)
• France (855)
• Taiwan (850)
• Belgium, China, Finland, India,  South Korea, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Russia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Armenia, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania,  Hungary, Bulgaria, Spain,  Pakistan, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico,  South Africa, Canada (810)
• Germany, Sweden, Netherlands (800)
• Switzerland  (750)

Notes:

1. The list represents a snapshot of events at the time of calculating the probabilities. Any forecast posted  here is subject to numerous variable factors.
2. Figures in the bracket represent the probability of an incident occurring out of 1,000; the forecast duration is valid for the next 50  months.
3. Probability includes a significant worsening of Fukushima nuclear disaster, and future quakes forecast for Japan.
4. A nuclear incident is defined as a level 5 (Accident With Wider Consequences), or worse, on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES). See below.
5. Safety issues considered in compiling these lists include the age, number of units and capacity of nuclear reactors in each country/state, previous incidents, probability of damage from human-enhanced natural disasters, e.g., earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic activity, hurricanes, tornadoes, storms, wildfires, flooding… ]
6. The  Blog’s knowledge concerning the extent to which the factors described in (3) might worsen during the forecast period greatly influences the forecast. (Last UPDATED: June 26, 2011)

Related Links

• Japan Earthquakes, Disasters: Recent History and FIRE-EARTH Forecasts

Fukushima NPP: “There must be a large leak”

High levels of radiation detected near Fukushima Reactor 1

Water level in Reactor 1 reactor vessel has dropped 5 meters below operating level

TEPCO technicians at Fukushima Nuclear Plant discovered earlier today that water level in the Reactor 1 pressure vessel had dropped 5 meters below the designated operating level, or  more than one meter below the base of the uranium fuel rods, indicating a large volume of water was leaking into the containment building.

NRC schematic drawing of Containment Building and Basic Internals

“There must be a large leak,” Junichi Matsumoto, a senior manager at TEPCO told a news conference.

“The fuel pellets likely melted and fell, and in the process may have damaged […] the pressure vessel itself and created a hole.”

Fukushima prefecture officials have revealed that the radiation level rose to 1,015 mircrosieverts per hour on Saturday, NHK reported.

“One hour of exposure to this amount of radiation is equivalent to the permissible amount of radiation an ordinary person receives in one year. It is about twice the level that requires power companies to notify the government of an emergency situation.” Said the report.

[Note:  Single radiation dose of 2,000 millisieverts (200,000 millirems) and above causes serious illness. See also exposure list below.]

TEPCO raised the alarm, after noticing that the water in the pressure vessel had not risen despite pumping in 150 tons of of water daily to cool the reactor core.

The technicians  have pumped a total of about 10,400 tonnes of water into the reactor so far, a report said.

TEPCO says temperatures at the bottom of the containment building are between 100 and 120 degrees Celsius, suggesting that the damaged fuel rods have melted and fallen through the reactor vessel and into the bottom of the reactor building, where they are being cooled down for now.

Probability of a Nuclear Disaster by Country

The following probability figures are calculated by FIRE-EARTH on April 8, 2011

• Japan (880)³
• United States (865)
• Taiwan (850)
• Belgium, China, France, Finland, India,  South Korea, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Russia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Armenia, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania,  Hungary, Bulgaria, Spain,  Pakistan, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico,  South Africa, Canada (810)
• Germany, Sweden, Netherlands (800)
• Switzerland  (750)

Notes:

1. The list represents a snapshot of events at the time of calculating the probabilities. Any forecast posted  here is subject to numerous variable factors.
2. Figures in the bracket represent the probability of an incident occurring out of 1,000; the forecast duration is valid for the next 50  months.
3. Probability includes a significant worsening of Fukushima nuclear disaster, and future quakes forecast for Japan.
4. A nuclear incident is defined as a level 5 (Accident With Wider Consequences), or worse, on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES). See below.
5. Safety issues considered in compiling these lists include the age, number of units and capacity of nuclear reactors in each country/state, previous incidents, probability of damage from human-enhanced natural disasters, e.g., earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic activity, hurricanes, tornadoes, storms, wildfires, flooding… ]
6. The  Blog’s knowledge concerning the extent to which the factors described in (3) might worsen during the forecast period greatly influences the forecast.

Half-life of some radioactive elements

[NOTE: Half-life is the time taken for a radioactive substance to decay by half.]

• Cesium-134 ~ 2  years
• Cesium-137 ~ 30 years
• Iodine-131 ~ 8 days
• Plutonium-239 ~ 24,200 years

• Ruthenium-103 ~ 39 days [Ruthenium is a fission product of uranium-235.]
• Ruthenium-106 ~ 374 days
• Strontium-90 ~ 28.85 years  [Strontium-90 is a product of nuclear fission and is found in large amounts in spent nuclear fuel and in radioactive waste from nuclear reactors.]

• Uranium-234 ~  246,000 years
• Uranium-235 ~ 703.8  million years
• Uranium-238  ~ 4.468 billion years

What is a lethal dose of radiation from a single Exposure?

Studies of the 1945 atomic bombing at Hiroshima and Nagasaki show that 100 percent of victims whose bodies were exposed to 600,000 millirems (6,000 mSv) died from radiation. About 50 percent of victims who received  450,000 millirems (4,500 mSv) of radiation also died.

(Note: Rem is a unit of ionizing radiation equal to the amount that produces the same damage to humans as one roentgen of high-voltage x-rays.  Source: MIT)

1 rem = 10 mSv  (1 Sv = 100 rem)

Background Radiation in millirems per year (mrem/yr)

• Average background radiation (US):  300
• Higher altitudes (eg. Denver): 400

“Safe Levels” of Radiation (U.S.)

Limits above natural background radiation levels (average 300 millirems per year) and medical radiation:

• Occupation Limit: Maximum of 5,000  (the limit for a worker using radiation)
• Average Natural Background: 300

[Note: Lifetime cumulative exposure should be limited to a person’s age multiplied by 1,000 millirems, e.g., a 70-year-old person, 70,000 millirems.]

Adults

• Max single dose for an adult: 3,000
• Annual total dose: 5,000

Under 18

• Max single dose for a person aged under 18 years: 300 millirems (whole body equivalent)
• Annual total exposure: 500

Fetal Exposure

• Maximum limit for fetal exposure during gestation period:  50 millirems per month above background levels

Medical

• Single Chest X-ray (the whole body equivalent): 2 millirem

Air Travel

• Coast-to-coast US round trip flight: 12 millirems

Megaquake and Tsunami Death Toll

The latest figures released by the authorities put the number of dead at about  12,000 with 16,000 people still listed as missing.

Related News

• Japan is shutting down 35 of its 54 reactors by late May

Related Links

• Japan Earthquakes, Disasters: Recent History and FIRE-EARTH Forecasts
• News Links 
• WARNING: JPTRMT1

Indian Power Workers Drink Radioactive Water

Water Glows at Kaiga Nuke Plant, India

Tritium Leaked into Drinking Water at India’s 660 MW Kaiga Nuclear Plant

Indian authorities revealed that radioactive substance had leaked into drinking water at a nuclear power plant in southwest India.

Officials at the high-security nuclear power plant in Kaiga, near Bangalore, said the leak may have been deliberate. – Photo: AP. Image may be subject to copyright.

Radioactive tritium leaked into a water cooler at Kaiga nuclear power plant in Uttar Kannada district in Karnataka, exposing at least 55 workers who drank the contaminated water to high doses of radiation.

The authorities at the plant in Kaiga claimed that the leak in high-security plant may have been deliberate. Kaiga nuclear power plant  is located on the southwest coast of India about 450 km from Bangalore.

“Mischief is not ruled out. Investigations are on,” the director of the plant, J.P. Gupta, told Reuters.

The workers were reportedly back at the plant, Gupta said. “This incident has (in) no way affected (the) public, safety, health and environment.”

The dead fish may tell a different story, however.

Later, the Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar, reportedly speaking on the national TV, called the incident “an act of sabotage” and blamed it on “an insider who has played mischief.”

Kaiga plant was closed in October for “routine maintenance,” but will  reopen soon, the authorities said.

XXX
Kaiga Nuclear Power Plant Location Map.

India’s Nuclear Power Industry:

Nuclear power is India’s fourth-largest source of electricity, preceded by thermal (fossil fuels), hydro and renewable sources. India’s existing 17 nuclear power plants generate about 4,120 MW of electricity with at least 6 other under construction with a projected capacity of about 3,160 MW.

India’s Electricity Generation Capacity (MW) by Type of Power Plants. Date: 31 December 2008. Source of Data:  India Ministry of Power – CEA. Chart by FEWW.

India’s Nuclear Power Plants

• Tarapur Atomic Power Station, Tarapur, Maharashtra
• Rajasthan Atomic Power Station, Rawatbhata, Rajasthan
• Madras Atomic Power Station, Kalpakkam, Tamilnadu
• Narora Atomic Power Station, Narora, Uttar Pradesh
• Kakrapar Atomic Power Station, Kakrapar, Gujarat
• Kaiga Atomic Power Station, Kaiga, Karnataka
• Jaitapur nuclear power project — Maharashtra
• Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant
• Mumbai — Bhabha Atomic Research Centre

Related Links:

• Murphy’s law has no time vector!
• Three Mile Island Cats Have 9 Lives, Too?
• Nation marks 25 years of non-stop cover-up of Three Mile Island nuclear accident

• French Nuke Waste Plagues Siberia
• Mafia Solves Nuclear Waste Problem
• All is NOT Well at Chernobyl
• Fish, Fish Eggs Holocaust
• Another fire at TEPCO nuclear plant

• This’s Got to Be the Year of Radioactive, Chemical and Oil Spills, Too!
• Another Hole in Areva’s Nuclear Cheese
• French Water!
• Radioactive Leak at TEPCO Unit Near Tokyo
• World’s Worst Polluted Places

French Nuke Waste Plagues Siberia

EDF nuclear waste dumped in open air in Siberia, Russia

Why i s it that everything that comes out of France lately turns out to be toxic?

Radioactive waste from France’s power group EDF are being dumped in the open air in Russia, French newspaper Liberation reported.

Some 13 percent of radioactive waste produced by France’s power giant is dumped in a town in Siberia, Liberation said, adding that its information was based on an investigative report, which would be broadcast on French TV channel ARTE  on Tuesday night local time.

“An EDF spokeswoman declined to confirm the 13 percent figure, or that waste was stored in the open air, but confirmed EDF sends nuclear waste to Russia.” Reuters reported.

“We send waste to Russia for treatment, and they send 10 to 20 percent of it back to us to be used in French power plants,” she was reported as saying.

The world’s largest nuclear power producer, EDF is about 85 percent state-owned, operating 58 reactors in 19 nuclear plants in France.

Related Links:

• French Water!
• European Pressurized Water Reactor!
• All is NOT Well at Chernobyl
• Nuclear High Noon in the Atlantic Ocean
• Japan’s Monju prototype fast-breeder reactor
• Chernobyl: A Night to Remember!
• Mafia Solves Nuclear Waste Problem
• Trafigura Knew!
• Fish, Fish Eggs Holocaust
• Australia: Uranium Dust Threat Real?
• Another fire at TEPCO nuclear plant
• Smoke Detected at Japanese Nuke Plant
• This’s Got to Be the Year of Radioactive, Chemical and Oil Spills, Too!
• Another Hole in Areva’s Nuclear Cheese

This’s Got to Be the Year of Radioactive, Chemical and Oil Spills, Too!

The Moderators have so far declared 2008 the year of fire, tornadoes and volcanic eruptions.

We were wondering whether 2008 could also be declared the year of radioactive, chemical and oil spills, too, almost certain of the knowledge that Areva, EDF and the likes would not “disappoint” us!

French Nuke Industry, Again!

Sure enough, in the third incident of uranium spillage in two weeks, it was revealed that about 100 employees at a nuclear power plant in southern France were contaminated with radiation during maintenance work at the Tricastin reactor number four.

Nuke Leaks, USA: Contaminated US site faces ‘catastrophic’ nuclear leak

More than 210 million liters of radioactive and chemical waste are stored in 177 underground tanks at Hanford in Washington State. Most are over 50 years old. Already 67 of the tanks have failed, leaking almost 4 million litres of waste into the ground. New Scientist reported.

Mississippi Oil Spill [Though Not the Largest Ever!]

Meanwhile, back home, A chemical tanker broke a fuel barge in half on the Mississippi River. About 420,000 gallons (1,589,700 liters) of fuel oil No. 6 [described as lighter than crude oil, but heavier than diesel] were spilled forcing the closure of a 58-mile (93km) stretch from New Orleans southward.

“It’s not the largest spill we’ve ever had, but it’s a large one,” said Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality spokesman Rodney Mallett. [Well, isn’t that a relief!]

Vanadium mine leak in China

Sludge from a vanadium mine in northwestern China contaminated two nearby rivers, Shuanghe River and Donghe River in Shaanxi province, when a spillway collapsed on Tuesday and sent authorities scrambling to protect drinking water supplies, Xinhua news agency said.

“The black-colored waste water with a layer of white bubbles on the top is being stopped by multiple (makeshift dams) and stored and diverted to low-laying areas,” Xinhua said.

“In April, ore tailings from another vanadium mine in Shanyang county polluted and literally blackened three rivers, state media reported at the time.” Reuters reported.

[All vanadium compounds should be considered highly toxic. Generally, the higher the oxidation state of vanadium, the more toxic the compound is. The most dangerous compound is vanadium pentoxide.]

Oil Spill in Amur River

Russia informed China of oil pollution in the Amur River On July 8. last week, the Ministry of Environmental Protection ruled out the possibility that the fuel oil pollution in Amur, or Heilongjiang River, was China.

Mystery oil spill in Patagonia: January 2008 [Don’t you just love the murder mystery spin?]

“The overall spill is made up of several slicks, two to three kilometers wide along a total extension of approximately forty kilometers,” reported the local newspaper El Chubut.

“Argentine government is analyzing recent satellite imagery to determine the cause of the spill but has yet to determine where the oil came from. According to local media reports, several corporations are suspected of causing the spill.” IFAW reported.

Penguins warm up after being affected by the oil spill in Patagonia.
© IFAW. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

Black Sea and San Francisco Bay Oil Spills: Environmental disasters follow oil spills

“In the Black Sea and San Francisco Bay, tens of thousands of birds, countless marine creatures and a half-dozen people died following oil spills. The spills in the Black Sea were caused by ships running aground and sinking during the worst storm the region has seen in decades, while the spill in the Bay Area was caused by a lone container ship hitting a bridge in fog. Environmental groups working in both regions call the spills ecological catastrophes.” GEOTIMES wrote.

In Russia, a severe storm struck the Black Sea on Nov 11 damaging or sinking 11 ships and tankers. a total of about 1 million gallons (1,378,500 liters ) of oil was spilled into the Kerch Strait, which ends in the Black Sea, killing as many as 15,000 birds. It’s thought as many as 11 endangered species of birds inhabit the area, and many more migrate through the fragile eco-region.

San Francisco Bay oil spill. Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

A container ship in San Francisco Bay struck the Bay Bridge on Nov. 7, causing substantial damage to the vessel and spilling about 60,000 gallons (~ 227,00 liters) of fuel oil into the bay. Some 2,500 birds died as a result. Experts say the region may be affected by the spill for the next 20 years.

Although the two incidents happened in November 2007, the full environmental impacts are now beginning to appear.

Norwegian oil spill raises concern about future oil plans

The second biggest oil spill in Norway occurred in December 2007, reviving concerns of the possible expansion of oil and gas exploration in Norwegian waters.

The spill of around 25,000 barrels left an oil slick 5 kilometres wide and 10 kilometres long. Fortunately the accident was mostly contained by favourable winds. The accident occurred as a tanker was loaded at energy group StatoilHydro’s Statfjord field. IceNews reported.

Norway Again: Oil spill on Draugen

The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) has conducted an investigation of the incident that occurred on Draugen on 10 January 2008, which led to an oil spill of about 6 m3 to the sea. On the basis of our findings we have issued an order to A/S Norske Shell (Shell) and Teekay Shipping Norway AS (Teekay). The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway reported.

Oh, NO! Not Norway Again!

During oil offloading from the Statfjord A platform in the North Sea, about 4,000 cubic meters (~ 1.1 million gallons) of crude oil was spilled into the sea on the December 12 causing marine pollution. The Statfjord field is located around 200 kilometres west of Bergen, close to the border of the UK continental shelf. Statfjord was discovered by Mobil in 1974, and Statoil took over the operatorship on 01 January 1987. The field is likely to remain in production until 2019. MarineBuzz reported.

Stril Pioner and seagoing booms at Gullfaks. Imagt credit: MarineBuzz [click link for more photos.] Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

Oil Spill Lebanon

“war on Lebanon brought about the biggest environmental catastrophe in the history of this small country. 15,000 tons of oil spilled from Jiyyeh power [plant] after Israeli bombardment spilling oil onto most of the Lebanese coast. ”

“A lot of oil is still on the beach, but all oil spill cleanup operations have stopped due to lack of funding. The last organization doing cleanup is ‘Bahr Loubnan’ NGO that was cleaning rocks from oil near Jiyeh using high pressure water jets. A lot of oil can still be found on shore all along the coast in Jiyeh, Beirut, Tabarja, Jbeil and Anfeh. The Ministry of Environment has issued a call for the second phase of cleanup and is looking for funding.” Oil Spill Lebanon reported.

The oil pollution on the Lebanese Coast (Rena Karanouh). Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

Oil Spill Korean Style

In South Korea’s worst oil spill [December 2007,] a crane barge punched holes into Hebei Spirit tanker which spewed 10,500 tons (3.4 million gallons) of its crude oil load into the sea.

Folks, it’s time to drill the Arctics some more. There’s too much pollution out here!

Related Links:

• 2008: Year of the Fire
• Will 2008 be year of the tornadoes, too?
• 2008: Year of the Expected Unknowns!

Another Hole in Areva’s Nuclear Cheese

Radioactive leaks from a broken pipe at a nuclear fuel plant in southeast France was discovered Friday, the country’s nuclear safety authorities (ASN) announced.

The leaks at Romans-sur-Isere’s FBFC plant in the Drome region, which were caused by cracks in an underground pipe carrying liquid uranium, were “several years old,” Areva said.

“The defective pipe was shut by our teams,” Areva said. [Well, thanks!]

“Results from initial tests show there has been no impact at all on the environment, because the quantity of uranium was very small, in the order of a few hundred grammes,” said ASN spokeswoman Evangelia Petit.

The FBFC plant processes fuel for some of France’s nuclear fleet of 58 reactors, the world’s second largest network, after the United States.

Meanwhile, France’s Energy and Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo frenetically attempted to reassure the nation about the incident.

“We mustn’t over-exaggerate,” he said, about 115 such “little anomalies” occur in France’s nuclear industry each year. “This is something which poses no environmental or health risk.” [That’s really reassuring, M. Borloo!]

Following an earlier incident on July 7 in which 360 kg of liquid uranium was discharge into the local rivers at Tricastin nuclear plant, the government had ordered safety tests in the country’s 19 nuclear plants Thursday, just a day before the discovery of latest leak.

It’s not known whether France’s 115 nuclear leaks each year is related to young French oysters abnormal mortality rates!

[Note: Areva has since replaced the manager for the Tricastin plant; however, the position of its Chairman of the Executive Board, Anne Lauvergeon, remains sacrosanct.]

Related News Links:

• New uranium leak discovered at French nuclear site
• New uranium leak found in French Areva factory

Related Links:

• French Water!