Reports saying Tokyo Electric Power Company now saying it is likely the damaged reactors at Fukushima Daiichi will not be stabilized by the end of the year, as first hoped.
Problems range from TEPCo’s own faulty assessments, to the Typhoon season now hitting Japan.
This means highly radioactive isotopes will continue to be emitted into the air, and pour into the Pacific Ocean.
The heavy rains from a tropical storm that hit Japan, are flooding the damaged reactor buildings with more water.
That is creating the potential for even more contaminated water getting into the Pacific Ocean. Radioactive water continues to pour from the reactors, TEPCo has failed to stop it..
According to NHK, to date only 40% of workers at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, have been given radiation check ups.
Tokyo Electric Power Company didn’t start testing until 11 days after the 11 March disasters.
Japanese standard safe limits for radiation exposure is 100 millisieverts. So far two workers have been exposed to more than 250 millisieverts. Another 30 have been exposed to more than 100 millisieverts.
TEPCo is trying to shift blame by saying workers are not taking their iodide pills properly. But even that is TEPCo’s fault; radiology experts are questioning whether the timing and level of iodide dosage was appropriate.
In another example of corporate leadership not thinking things through, Tokyo Electric Power Company has discovered that the buildings it’s been using to store highly contaminated water in are leaking.
TEPCo was using the buildings to store contaminated water that leaked into the basements of the reactor buildings, and contaminated water from reactor cooling systems. Even though TEPCo claimed it has stopped the massive leaks from the reactor buildings, contaminated water continues to pour into the Pacific Ocean.
On Friday, 27 May 2011, TEPCo discovered that the buildings used to store contaminated water are leaking. They will now stop transferring contaminated water and try and plug the leaks.
TEPCo admits they know the buildings are damaged, and they failed to plug any leaks before transferring the contaminated water!
Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency is reminding Tokyo Electric Power Company that it must stop the flood of contamination that is still pouring into the ocean.
According to NHK, TEPCo is still trying to figure out how to stop leaks of contaminated water. The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency gave TEPCo until 01 June 2011 to figure out a way to plug the leaks.
Recently Tokyo Electric Power Company tried to blame the metldown of reactor 1 on an employee turning off the cooling system. Turns out the employee was following TEPCo’s own operating manual!
TEPCo now says the employee was following procedure because coolants temps had actually dropped, so much that their manual called for the shut down of the cooling system.
They also revealed that data recorded immediately after 11 March 2011 does not show any cooling problems, for at least 30 minutes after the 11 March quake/tsunami. A week ago TEPCo said reactor 1 began meltdown in the early hours of 12 March. Reactor 3 melted down on 13 March and reactor 2 on 15 March. I have to think that TEPCo’s instrumentation is faulty, or TEPCo officials are inept at reading the data collected, why else are they just now figuring this out?
Tokyo Electric Power Company now confirm reactors 2 and 3 at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, melted down within days after the 11 March tsunami.
Reactor 3 began meltdown on 13 March, Reactor 2 on 15 March.
Previously TEPCo officials said their inability to access the reactor buildings kept them from the knowledge of any meltdowns, but a Japanese expert says that’s BS.
According to NHK, Naito Masanori of the Institute of Applied Energy, says data from the reactors should have been easy to get. In fact TEPCo sould have realized meltdowns were taking place within a day, not several months.
The latest admission from TEPCo means that three nuclear reactors melted down within days of the 11 March disasters, again proving that this is worse than Chernobyl. It also proves that TEPCo literally fiddled while Fukushima burned. In a previous posting I wrote how TEPCo spent most of their time in the first weeks of the nuke disaster trying to come up with plans to build new reactors.
Tokyo Electric Power Company president, Shimizu Masataka, has resigned, and will step down in June.
TEPCo has lost $15 billion. $12 billion of that is directly due to dealing with the ongoing nuclear disaster at their Fukushima Daiichi plant.
In order to pay compensation to people affected by the radiation disaster, TEPCo will sell off $7 billion in property, and cut $6 billion in operating expenses by laying employees off, and ending research & development.
20 May 2011, Tokyo Electric Power Company says they will resume nitrogen injection in Fukushima Daiichi’s reactors 2 and 3. There is a fear that hydrogen gas is building to explosive levels.
The explosions of the reactor buildings, back in March, is blamed on hydrogen gas build up. TEPCo also said they were installing lead shields in Reactor 3, because of extremely high radiation levels.
“It remains the case that a way must be found for us to leave nuclear power behind as soon as possible.”-Norbert Rottgen, Environment Minister
Because of the ongoing nuke disaster reactor at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi plant, Germany ordered ‘worst case scenario’ testing of all its nuclear plants. They all FAILED!
The report was published by Der Spiegel. It was discovered that all of Germany’s nuke plants lack the “required safety features” to withstand a level three disaster. Not only that, but four of the plants failed simulations involving small aircraft crashing into them.
The highest safety standard rating for nuclear plants in Germany, is a level three rating. The report says most of the plants can’t even meet level two safety standards.