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!

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?

In the past week the Hamaoka nuke plant, east of Tokyo, was shut down, at the request of the government.

The reason was that the plant sat on two fault lines, and scientists expect a 8+ quake. The plant was not built to withstand such a earthquake.

Now Chubu Electric Power Company says they’ve discovered that at least 400 tons of salt water has gotten into the reactors.  Salt water can damage the reactors and coolant pumps.  They think the salt water is coming from a damaged water line connected to a turbine room.

13 March 2011, Tokyo Electric Power Company has announced that fuel rods in reactor 1 have melted.  Government officials think this might be the cause of holes where highly contaminated water is pouring from.

TEPCo officials say that most of the fuel rods have melted and are now melting through the bottom of the reactor.  Officials think the melted rods are cooling down at the bottom of the reactor because there is still water there.

TEPCo is now trying to find out how much water is actually in the reactor, and come up with a new plan to address the meltdown.

Japan Atomic Power Company said its Tsuruga nuclear plant leaked a small amount of radiation on Sunday, 08 May 2011.  But this is not the first time.

On 02 May radiation was detected outside the reactors.  JAPCo officials think the radiation leak is coming from the cooling water for the fuel rods. They are shutting down the plant to inspect.

Tsuruga nuke plant is in Fukui Prefecture, directly west of Tokyo.

After first saying no, CEPCo now says OK they will shut down their Hamaoka plant.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan asked Chubu Electric Power Company to shut down their Hamaoka nuke plant, because the plant sits on top of a convergence of fault lines, that could produce an 8+ quake.  The plant is not built to withstand such a quake, and the Japanese government wants the plant operators to reinforce the reactors.

The problem for CEPCo is that they have no way to replace the electric power that will be lost when they shut down the reactors.  The Japanese auto industry, and other manufacturers, are worried because they are already dealing with supply problems due to lack of electricity.  The shut down of Hamaoka nuclear plant will only make the supply situation worse.

CEPCo officials say that, so far, they can not come up with any practical alternative to replace the lost electrical power.

Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi and Suzuki have factories in the prefectures that will be affected by the nuke plant shut down.  Also, electronics makers Panasonic, Toshiba and Fujitsu have factories that will be affected by the shut down.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan had asked Chubu Electric Power Company to shut down their Hamaoka nuke plant, because it turns out that it is right over a convergence of fault lines, and scientists expect a magnitude 8+ quake.

Hamaoka is south west of Tokyo. Kan wants CEPCo to shut down the plant, and reinforce the reactors to withstand an 8+ quake.

CEPCo officials studied several options, including how to pay for the cost of reinforcing their nuclear plant.  They decided they don’t have the money to reinforce the plant, and it would not be feasible to raise electric rates high enough to pay for it (because customers would refuse to pay the higher rates).

CEPCo also decided that shutting down the plant would make the already bad situation, for Japanese industries dealing with lack of power, even worse.

CEPCo is not ruling out shutting down the Hamaoka plant, if they can do it with out reducing electrical power, and find money to pay for the reinforcing.

Tokyo Electric Power Company announced early May 2, that another of their nuclear plants in Japan is in trouble.  The Tsuruga nuclear plant is having technical problems, resulting in overheating.

The plant is around 450 km (280 miles) west of Tokyo, in Fukui prefecture.  TEPCo says the problem is so bad they are considering shutting down the whole plant.  There is a possible leak of iodine from Tsuruga nuclear plant #2 reactor’s nuclear fuel assemblies into its coolant.