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High level radioactive wastes flow into Pacific – Fukushima nuclear disaster not under control

Japan Newspapers: It appears ‘high-level radioactive contaminated water’ is flowing into ocean at Fukushima — “Fear nuclear complex might not be scrapped” — Official admits disaster at plant “is barely being managed” http://enenews.com/japan-newspapers-it-appears-high-level-radioactive-contaminated-water-is-flowing-into-ocean-at-fukushima-fear-nuclear-complex-might-not-be-scrapped-govt-official-plant-is-barely-be?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28En

Yomiuri Shimbun,, Mar. 6, 2014: Decommissioning operations […] are still in the earliest stages. […] radioactive substances continue to flow into the sea. It appears that high-level radioactive contaminated water from tunnels extending from the No. 1 to No. 4 reactor building is flowing into the sea. […] groundwater continues to flow into the reactor buildings […] There are now, all told, 1,000 storage tanks—far too many to manually inspect. […] Construction of some groundwater bypass wells has already been completed. The government and TEPCO are working together to explain the situation to local governments concerned in an effort to achieve understanding among local residents concerning discharges of water into the ocean.

See also: Asahi: Nothing done for years to stop highly radioactive leaking into Fukushima trenches — Water above 1 sievert per hour — Work “has not been done to this day because of difficulties involved”

Japan Times,, Mar. 6, 2014: Tepco haunted by mismanagement; Glaring errors have met utility’s cleanup effort at nearly every turn[…] “I think it is extremely important that workers assume the worst when instruments show abnormal movements, considering that the crippled plant is barely being managed,” one NRA official said. […] Tepco has not even finished testing a trouble-plagued system that is reportedly capable of removing 62 different types of radioactive material from the contaminated water[…]   Akira Watanabe, a professor at Fukushima University, said local people are encouraged by the central government’s increased financial support as they fear the nuclear complex might not be scrapped should Tepco’s business conditions worsen. But Watanabe, who serves as a member of the NRA’s panel monitoring safety measures at Fukushima No. 1, is skeptical that government support alone will bring a change to the overall situation.

March 8, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized