Published: October 9th, 2011 at 8:01 am ET
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SOURCE: TEPCO uses low-level radioactive water to spray Fukushima nuclear compound, Mainichi, October 8, 2011
Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has begun processing low-level radioactive water and spraying it [...]
The water comes from the plant’s No. 5 and No. 6 reactors [...]
The move is aimed at preventing trees felled on the plant compound from catching fire and dust containing radioactive materials from scattering, the utility said.
A daily amount of 100 cubic meters of water will be sprayed [...]
Makeshift tanks and an artificial floating island, or “megafloat,” [...] are close to overflowing.
Published: October 9th, 2011 at 8:01 am ET
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Check out: Fukushima: BBC Debunked http://www.youtube.com/user/GoddardsJournal
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Japan almost always has a moderate to high amount of humidity and regular rainfall. I’ve never really witnessed any tinder conditions where fires were a concern nor really heard of many forest fires (unlike back home where I witnessed things get dry and saw forest fire warnings issued.) To my knowledge there has been regular rain all over Japan and there should be no elevated reason to fear fire. Likewise the weather is cooling off, so that if water is sprayed, I’d expect the wood to remain damp for a few days before it needs wetting again.
This really seems like an excuse to get rid of the water since they can’t dump it to sea.
I may be misinterpreting things, but in my 4 years living here, I’ve seen many cases where something that sounds like a good idea, is taken as a good idea without any of the realities being checked :-\
I wondering if they’ll start bottling the water next and selling it as mineral water to support the disaster stricken area. That sounds like a good idea, right?
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Thinking this is to spray, SFP’s and grounds around the plants to keep small particles from re-critical, as well as them announcing they were cutting down the trees in the area a few days back, they will move outward from and make the perimeter larger as they work their way out increasing the size of the de-contaminated zone, witch is what they are in process of calling for and doing, de-contaminating !
Also by spraying the grounds then scrapping up and loading onto trucks for removal of contaminated soil to a depth without dust for many working there to breath !
Also this may signal that there are rather large piece’s of material that have been located that while being moved may/would go critical ! There is a lot of HOT material laying around from the explosion’s back in March !
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maybe they are very worried about a fire anywhere near the plant that might cause a hydrogen explosion.
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Those two replies make good sense. At first gloss it sounded like they just wanted to spray a lot of (potentially) contaminated water to get rid of it. I guess if it’s significantly less contaminated than the dust they want to keep down there’s no extra harm in using it …
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many moons,
You bet, re-critical could cause an explosion if the gases are in the area in right constancy of air/gas mixture and all indications say they can accrue/are, the workers have acknowledged this with their concerns for safety !
http://enenews.com/fox-tepco-releasing-hydrogen-to-prevent-an-explosion-at-reactor-no-1-generated-by-radiation-that-dissolved-water
http://enenews.com/anonymous-fukushima-worker-another-explosion-nuke-plant-possible-endless-endless-task-will-never
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@wmilbury
That’s a thoughtful analysis. I pretty much agree with you. The amount of contaminated water they have generated “cooling” things has accumulated. Most of the reservoirs would have been filled to overflowing long ago. I also think nothing they are doing is working and that they simply do not know what to do next. I suspect much of this radioactive water is going into the sea.
Moving radioactive material around is not going to make anything better. Filtering won’t make things better–where do the filters go? We all know the central problem with radioactive waste is that we have no safe place to store it for hundreds of thousands of years. That is the one glaring fact staring us in the face.
Fukushima is the most unmitigated disaster the world has ever seen and none of know what can be done. Fukushima defines mans’ hubris.
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“Tanks close to overflowing”
I believe the tanks were at capacity long ago and they simply stopped filling them, and yes I feel there has been a continuous flow of tainted waters into the sea as they were pumping 500 tonnes of water a day on these troubled HOT areas over the months !
May 18, 2011 tanks full…
Strange: U.S. made “strong request” that radioactive water be …
May 18, 2011 … All the ponds and tanks onsite were full. Dump the terribly radioactive water in the Pacific or let the horribly radioactive water leak there instead. …
http://enenews.com/strange-made-strong-request-radioactive-water-be-dumped-ocean-special-adviser-japan-govt
water on Just 5 and 6 alone…
http://enenews.com/tepco-uses-radioactive-water-from-reactors-no-5-and-6-to-spray-throughout-fukushima-plant-over-100-tons-a-day-tanks-close-to-overflowing
Dumping less contaminated for more irradiated water…
Resumption of radiation decontamination system “not in sight …
Jun 25, 2011 … Thats because they dumped the ‘less radioactive’ water that was in storage into the Pacific so they could refill the tanks with the ‘really’ …
http://enenews.com/resumption-of-radiation-decontamination-system-not-in-sight-unclear-whether-recycling-of-water-can-be-carried-out-as-planned
Kyodo: Groundwater now flowing into Fukushima … – Energy News
Sep 20, 2011 … I guess those 500 tons of highly radioactive water then flow out into the … the buildings are directly next to the ocean, the working reactors core is ….
http://enenews.com/kyodo-groundwater-flowing-fukushima-reactor-buildings-cracks-walls-500-tons-day
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Here is video – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cGbgx8w5eg
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here is video too-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj43Jsl0R3w
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I don’t usually think in cubic meters, but it translates to somewhat over 25000 gallons per 100 cubic meters. If it really is low level, say something like 10% of dangerous levels, and they distribute this over say a third of the area each day, it will be at 100% dangerous in a month or less. This dose not take into account the already dangerous levels of radiation in the area. I don’t know of a better plan, but this one is filled with major problems.
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I sure wouldn’t want to breath any of the fine mist or get it on me, the water filter machines were said to only remove cesium levels to a degree from early articles on there function !
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/09/iaea-fukushima-inspectors-arrive
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2011/oct/07/japan-tourism-after-tsunami
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After reading this Rosie’s Guardian piece, I recommend that any of my ignorant British friends who are actually planning to visit Tokyo first go to New Bond St. for a bespoke LEAD suit.
Spock get us out of here!
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If they spray radioactive water ANYWHERE, does that not build up and concentrate the radioactivity as more water is sprayed each day?
Does the radioactivity in the water just magically disappear after it is sprayed?
Also, if they use a sprayer and the water soaks into the ground, and they do this day in and day out, wouldn’t the radiation just soak down into the ground, and further contaminate the ground water?
I think they are doing this at least in part, out of desperation. Radioactive water and filter material is stacking up, piling up, accumulating, and overflowing all around them, with NO END IN SIGHT.
The tendency will also be to start spraying ‘slightly’ contaminated water around the area, just to get rid of excess and overflowing water from inside the buildings, but the temptation is to just spray highly contaminated water as well, just to stay on top of things.
Is there any independent non industry, non government people’s representative watching and measuring what they are doing?
What is the cost of this whole operation?
Who is paying for the cleanup?
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25000 gallons? Everyday? That seems like an awfull lot of water. How much forest have they clear cut and wouldnt it be better to just bury the trees? They want to burn all the other waste. Why not the trees too? With such heavy concentrations around the plant wont this just wash large ammounts of it into the sea, or is that the real goal? Hummmm…..
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¿mitigation theatre?
cf.: “security theatre”: giving the appearance of security efforts to the uninformed, without addressing any real risks:
giving the appearance of mitigation efforts to the uninformed, without addressing any real risks;
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Gov’ts not preparing workers for radiation work, survey says
TOKYO (majirox news) — About 70% of local governments sending officials into the 30-kilometer zone around the radiation leaking Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have no management system related to the radiation exposure, according to a Mainichi newspaper report on Aug. 21.
In contrast, organizations under central government control that sent officials into the area all had a system in place.
Local governments – the Fukushima Prefectural government and 11 municipalities in the vicinity of the radiation-leaking plant – have been sending officials in to work in the area with high levels of radiation without defense, according …
http://www.majiroxnews.com/2011/08/21/gov%e2%80%99ts-not-preparing-workers-for-radiation-work-survey-says/#comment-1253
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