URGENT: Radioactivity 10,000 times the limit found from groundwater: TEPCO

[IScreamSundays]

Source: Kyodon

URGENT: Radioactivity 10,000 times the limit found from groundwater: TEPCO
TOKYO, April 1, Kyodo

A radioactive substance about 10,000 times the limit was detected from groundwater around the No. 1 reactor of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Thursday.

A Tokyo Electric official said the radiation level is ''extremely high.''

==Kyodo

Read more: http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/04/82382.html

[aquart]

1. Groundwater? Do they have a chart of the water table in the area?

[sce56]

2. How I wish this was just an April Fools Joke look at the actual Dateline

URGENT: Radioactivity 10,000 times the limit found from groundwater: TEPCO

TOKYO, April 1, Kyodo

Oh how I wish that was just Aprils Fools Joke!

[sce56]

3. Radioactive substances in underground water

Radioactive substances in underground water
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/01_17.html
Tokyo Electric Power Company says it has detected radioactive substances in underground water at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

TEPCO, operator of the plant, has been checking below-ground water on the advice of the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan.

The company says radioactive water was detected beneath the ground near the turbine buildings of five of the 6 reactors. The remaining reactor, No. 4, could not be checked because it was blocked by debris.

TEPCO says radioactive substances dispersed into the atmosphere may have seeped into the soil through rain and sprayed water.

Highly radioactive water has been found in the basement of the turbine buildings and other locations. Damage to nuclear fuel rods in the reactors is believed to have caused the contamination.

The company will further analyze underground water and release the result later on Friday.

In response to the announcement, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters on Friday morning that the government will tighten monitoring of seawater and nearby areas.

Friday, April 01, 2011 11:23 +0900 (JST)

[defendandprotect]

17. And our officials act as though none of this was PREDICTABLE ... !!!

If we were expecting common sense and common wisdom by our elected officials

NOT to be overcome by corporate money, we have been very naive, indeed!!

[jtuck004]

4. Tokyo Electric Power Co. said test results may be incorrect

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-31/japan-reviewing-water-tests-showing-iodine-at-10-000-times-limit.html

...
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said test results may be incorrect that detected radioactive iodine about 10,000 times the safety limit in underground water at its Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant.

Tokyo Electric found the radioactive water near the No. 1 reactor turbine building while performing tests recommended by Japan’s Nuclear Safety Commission, according to a statement yesterday. The company later said those results and others may be wrong and it will re-examine the data.

Tokyo Electric reported radiation in water outside one of the Fukushima reactors this week that exceeded 1 sievert an hour...
...

That's hot for water. Seems like that's one of those things you would be pretty sure about, maybe even test a time or two b4 reporting? But now that you have, people don't want to hear those numbers?

One source is dated April 1 in Kyodo, the other March 31 but probably US time, seems like same story.

[sce56]

6. It goes like this " Wow they printed that who said they could release that statement? Well just put

a new report saying the first one is wrong just like we did before!

'Bet that is why they put out one then say it was wrong! They always lie about these things!

[jtuck004]

20. I wonder how they are getting the samples. You don't want to expose

yourself directly, but...

Can't be easy.

[stockholmer]

5. this whole tragedy is a fucking slow-motion nuclear train wreck, complete with a lying conductor

:nuke:

[defendandprotect]

18. Japan disaster is to be denied to protect the FUTURE OF NUCLEAR INDUSTRY -- !!!

[Paradoxical]

7. This doesn't surprise me at all.

The coolant piping almost certainly burst during the hydrogen explosions.

The contaminants are either escaping through those damaged outlets or the reactor vessel has been breached. Which would also not be surprising in the least.

The more they flush the reactor to cool the fuel, the more radioactive contaminants will leech into the surrounding ground water.

[Cronus Protagonist]

8. They'll need to raise the limits again

Oh well.

[SydNav]

9. Question on the substance

"A radioactive substance about 10,000 times the limit ..."

Is there any clarification on exactly what the "substance" was?

[sce56]

10. Groundwater at nuclear plant 'highly' radiation-contaminated: TEPCO

Source: KYDO News

Groundwater at nuclear plant 'highly' radiation-contaminated: TEPCO

TOKYO, April 1, Kyodo

More signs of serious radiation contamination in and near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were detected Thursday, with the latest data finding groundwater containing radioactive iodine 10,000 times the legal threshold and the concentration of radioactive iodine-131 in nearby seawater rising to the highest level yet. Radioactive material was confirmed from groundwater for the first time since the March 11 quake and tsunami hit the nuclear power plant on the Pacific coast, knocking out the reactors' key cooling functions. An official of the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said, ''We're aware this is an extremely high figure.''

The contaminated groundwater was found from around the No. 1 reactor's turbine building, although the radiation level of groundwater is usually so low that it cannot be measured. Japanese authorities were also urged to consider taking action over radioactive contamination outside the 20-kilometer evacuation zone around the plant, as the International Atomic Energy Agency said readings from soil samples collected in the village of Iitate, about 40 km from the plant, exceeded its criteria for evacuation. The authorities denied that the seawater and soil contamination posed an immediate threat to human health, but the government said it plans to enhance radiation data monitoring around the plant on the Pacific coast, about 220 km northeast of Tokyo.

According to the government's nuclear safety agency, the radioactive iodine-131 at a concentration of 4,385 times the maximum level permitted under law has been detected in a seawater sample collected Wednesday afternoon near the plant, exceeding the previous high recorded the day before. In Tuesday's sample, the concentration level was 3,355 times the maximum legal limit.

SNIP

In Vienna on Wednesday, Denis Flory, IAEA deputy director general and head of the agency's nuclear safety and security department, said readings from soil samples collected in Iitate between March 18 and March 26 ''indicate that one of the IAEA operational criteria for evacuation is exceeded (there).'' In response to the IAEA, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Thursday the government may implement measures, if necessary, such as urging people living in the area to evacuate, if it is found that the contaminated soil will have a long-term effect on human health. Nishiyama said at a press conference in the afternoon that the agency's rough estimates have shown there is no need for people in Iitate to evacuate immediately under criteria set by the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan. ''The radiation dose of a person who was indoors for 16 hours and outdoors for eight hours (and continued such a lifestyle) would be about 25 millisieverts, which is about half the level which requires evacuation based on the commission's criteria,'' he said.

Read more: http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/04/82390.html

---

The FuShima Plant is not getting anywhere near containment of it's radioactive contents!

[Arrowhead2k1]

11. Fukushima plant groundwater likely contaminated despite data error

TOKYO, April 1, Kyodo

Groundwater at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is highly likely to be contaminated with radioactive materials, even though its operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. is reviewing its analysis released late Thursday due to erroneous calculations, the government's nuclear safety agency said Friday.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said some of the analysis data on the groundwater presented by the utility known as TEPCO cannot be trusted due to the errors, casting doubts on the finding that the concentration of radioactive iodine in the water was 10,000 times the legal limit.

Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for the governmental nuclear regulatory body, said it was ''extremely regrettable'' that TEPCO had given incorrect radiation data at the plant for the second time. The agency has strongly warned the operator over the matter and urged it to take steps not to do so again, he added.

''TEPCO faces a grave situation as it is failing to live up to the expectations of people who are very worried by the company. Its data should be trustworthy,'' Nishiyama said.

Earlier in the week, the utility corrected its analysis of radiation levels in water accumulating in the basement of the No. 2 reactor's turbine building.

The agency said the density readings of radioactive substances in groundwater samples taken on Tuesday and Wednesday from around the No. 1 reactor's turbine building may be revised downward, as TEPCO's evaluation programs for materials such as tellurium, molybdenum and zirconium were found to have errors.

http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/04/82524.html

[thewiseguy]

12. What has the Japanese government done with respect to high radiation found outside exclusion zone?

Or are they going to say IAEA's data is also faulty? Nishiyama the other day claimed that high levels of radioactivity found in the seawater (4800 times above base levels) was no threat to the marine life. Is not it regrettable that Nishiyama and the government are putting shit information out there?

Seems to me the Japanese government is refusing to admit they have a huge problem on hand.

[suffragette]

15. "TEPCO's evaluation programs ...were found to have errors"

This isn't making sense to me.

Are they saying computer error or that the methodology Tepco is using is not the standard for the industry or ...?

Evaluation program error? At this stage?

And this is for an area where Tepco is the sole source of data unless they have changed their stance about allowing an independent monitor onto plant and adjacent grounds.

And one more reason why that decision should be taken from Tepco's handds and the government should demand independent monitoring there whether Tepco agrees or not..

[JohnyCanuck]

13. Stupid (insert your choice of epithet here) ****** Ann Coulter

says she wants some of that groundwater, so she can use it to make herself some lemonade. A nice, tall glass of radioactive lemonade is so refreshing and revitalizing after a hard day's work slugging it out in the media with liberal do-gooders and Chicken Littles. :sarcasm:

[mopinko]

14. seems a little fishy to me. where are they measuring

groundwater? i mean, you have to dig or drill to get your samples. are they putting someone at risk of death to perform this test? not saying it isn't true, just think the pieces are not fitting exactly for this.

[Throckmorton]

16. The test wells may already be in place

Here in the US a lot of industrial plants, including nuclear plants, have installed test wells. The are sealed with rain-tight covers and have casings driven to specified levels based on the subsoil geology. That may be where they are getting their samples. It is also possible that they screwed up taking them and contaminated them with surface contaminants, given how the rest of this "Operation" appears to be going, it would not surprise me for a second.

[mopinko]

19. that makes sense. thanks. np

[WheelWalker]

22. Good answer.

[WheelWalker]

21. Good question.