nuclear-news

Why is Srontium 90 such a problem at Fukushima? – National Geographic

Patrick J. Kiger

For National Geographic

Published August 21, 2013

Image source ; ⁹⁰Sr is a fission product arising from fission of ²³⁵U, ²³⁸U or other heavy nuclei. Secular equilibrium with the daughter product ⁹⁰Y occurs within several half lives and beyond this their activities are equal. It may be contaminated by ⁸⁹Sr, which has a much shorter half life of 50.5 days. Due to the long half life of ⁹⁰Sr, if disposal is required procedures similar to ¹³⁷Cs should be followed.

Ken Buesseler, a senior scientist as the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts who has studied radiation leakage from the Fukushima plant, said he is concerned about the lack of data on levels of strontium-90 in the waters off Fukushima http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2011/0317/Japan-nuclear-crisis-sparks-calls-for-IAEA-reform [The IAEA are responsible for the testing of the Pacific after the Daichi meltdowns Arclight2011] .

He said that the groundwater now leaking into the Pacific—including, possibly, some contamination from leaking tanks—might now have much higher levels of that particular substance. Strontium-90 has potentially greater health risks than cesium isotopes because it becomes concentrated in the bones of fish and humans, he said.

[…]

When the company belatedly revealed last month the daily leakage of radioactive groundwater into the Pacific Ocean, a problem that outside scientists have long suspected,

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The development prompted Japanese government officials to step in and take a more direct role: The government announced last week that it is considering spending 50 billion yen ($410 million) to finance construction of a frozen soil barrier—also known as an ice wall—in an effort to block the groundwater from the plant from reaching the ocean.  (See related story: “Can an Ice Wall Stop Radioactive Water Leaks From Fukushima?“) That technology has long been used in the mining and construction fields, and reportedly performed well in containing radioactive water in a U.S. government test project in the early 1990s, but has never been used on a large scale at a nuclear power plant.

“This leak is very serious,”

said Dr. Janette Sherman, an Alexandria, Virginia-based physician who specializes in radioactive and toxic exposure. Dr. Sherman, who edited an in-depth study of health effects on cleanup workers in the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the former Soviet Union, said she is concerned that the cleanup crew at Fukushima Daiichi may face long-term health risks.

She also raised the prospect of the radiation’s as-yet unknown effects on fish and other marine life in the Pacific.

[No mention of the unfolding Thyroid epidemic? Arclight2011]

Buesseler said he was concerned that the high level of radiation from the leaking tank might just be a harbinger of what is to come if more of the other temporary tanks begin to fail.  But he’s even more worried by revelations of leaks and other problems at the plant, which lately have been coming with dismaying frequency.

“There is still a lot of contamination at Fukushima—in the land, in the buildings, and now from these tanks,” Buesseler said.

“Every bit of news that we’ve been getting is that the [radioactivity] numbers are going up.”

“I’m becoming less confident that [TEPCO] can contain the problem,” he said.

Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority shares Buesseler’s concern, warning that the latest leakage problem might be beyond TEPCO’s ability to cope [Dont mention the IAEA = Arclight2011]

“We should assume that what has happened once could happen again, and prepare for more,”

watchdog chairman Shunichi Tanaka told a news conference, BBC News reported. “We are in a situation where there is no time to waste.”

[…]

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2013/08/130821-fukushima-latest-leak-how-is-it-different/

August 24, 2013 - Posted by arclight2011part2 | Uncategorized