Washington, D.C.–(ENEWSPF)–April 2, 2011 – UPDATE AS OF 12 P.M. EDT. Recovery efforts continue at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan, as aid pours in from the international nuclear community in the form of technical expertise, protective equipment for workers, storage tanks for contaminated water and other measures.
Today, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said it has identified one likely source of contaminated water reaching the Pacific Ocean, accounting for some of the radiation readings in seawater samples taken over the past several days. The crack is in a two-meter-deep concrete “pit,” or trench, that contains power cables near the reactor 2 water intake. Water measuring between 10 and 20 centimeters deep was found in the pit with radiation levels of more than 1,000 milliSieverts per hour. TEPCO plans to pour concrete to patch the crack while continuing to search for other potential leak paths.
The Nuclear Industrial and Safety Agency says iodine-131 will be diluted in seawater and does not pose a threat to the public. Additionally, iodine-131 has a short half-life—about eight days—and will decay to harmless levels fairly quickly. (See NEI’s fact sheet to learn more about the health impacts of iodine-131.)
The Japan Atomic Industrial Forum said TEPCO is obtaining a “massive, hollow floating platform” from Shizuoka City and will use it to store contaminated water from the Fukushima site. The float can store up to 18,000 tons of water. Meanwhile TEPCO and the Japanese government are working to identify safe methods for transporting and storing contaminated water.
NRC Forms Task Force to Review U.S. Safety Measures
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced April 1 that it has formed a task force to identify any potential near-term actions that affect U.S. nuclear power plants, including their used fuel pools. This is part of the NRC’s 90-day review of U.S. safety measures in light of what is known to date about the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. The review will encompass station blackout (loss of all offsite electrical power for a reactor), external events that would lead to a prolonged loss of cooling, plant capabilities for preventing or dealing with such circumstances and emergency preparedness. The task force will provide status reports in public meetings May 12 and June 16 and recommendations at a July 19 public meeting.
Source: nei.org
