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‘Emergency transfer’ of Fukushima radioactive water, following typhoon

‘Emergency measures’ used at Fukushima site during typhoon — Contaminated water dumped in ocean — 9 barriers were on verge of overflowing, then released into environment with NO radiation test — CNN: Workers were “on vigil” (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/emergency-measures-taken-at-fukushima-plant-during-typhoon-tv-contaminated-water-dumped-in-ocean-many-barriers-were-on-verge-of-overflowing-then-were-drained-into-environment-with-no-radia

Asahi,  Oct. 16, 2013: Heavy rain from Typhoon No. 26 forced [TEPCO] to discharge rainwater Oct. 16 that was threatening to swamp the barriers that surround the radioactive water storage tanks […] According to the utility, workers drained about 40 tons of water from within barriers in areas called C-West and C-East at around 5:40 a.m. The water was transferred to a temporary storage tank to check its radiation levels before it was released, TEPCO officials said. But water levels continued to rise inside the barriers, threatening to spill over. Plant workers were eventually forced to open drainage valves on a total of nine storage areas starting around 7 a.m. to allow the water to escape, according to officials. Earlier, TEPCO had said it would discharge water that accumulated behind the barriers only after transferring it to a temporary storage tank where it would confirm it complied with safety standards. TEPCO officials said circumstances forced it to take “emergency measures” because the water rose at a faster rate than it could transfer to the holding tank.

NHK WORLD, Oct. 16, 2013: [TEPCO] has released rainwater that had accumulated in the compound from typhoon Wipha. The water has reportedly cleared tests for radioactivity. […] It began releasing the water from 9 locations on Wednesday morning. […] The level of tritium, which takes longer to measure, is also likely to be safe. In a separate move, TEPCO made an emergency transfer of highly radioactive water that had pooled at 2 other locations. The water was transferred to an adjacent underground storage pool. TEPCO had not stored water underground since a leak in April […] because rainwater from the typhoon was rising fast, the utility decided to store the radioactive water temporarily in an underground pool […] TEPCO has built additional storage tanks and increased personnel and patrols to control contaminated water after a storm earlier this month. Radioactive water flowed over barriers at that time, and seeped out of an overfilled tank. […] The authority asked TEPCO to tighten monitoring for possible leaks.

CNN,, Oct. 16, 2013:  Typhoon Wipha hits Tokyo area, killing at least 17 […] TEPCO, which has been struggling to deal with a series of leaks at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, said workers at the plant were “on vigil” and accumulated rainwater had been released from storage tanks.

NHK Newsline, , Oct. 16, 2013: The water accumulated around the compound. Some of it became contaminated with radioactive substances. Managers at Fukushima Daiichi instructed workers to release it into the ocean after tetsts showed the radiation levels met safety standards. […] Workers made an ‘emergency transfer’ of rain water at two other locations because they suspected it was highly radioactive.
Watch the NHK broadcast here

October 17, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Fukushima 2013