information about Fukushima published in English in Japanese media info publiée en anglais dans la presse japonaise
28 Juillet 2013
July 28, 2013
JIJI
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Sunday it had detected a high level of tritium in water under its stricken Fukushima No. 1 power plant.
Tepco detected 8.7 million becquerels of tritium per liter in water taken Friday from a cable trench running under the turbine building of the No. 2 reactor at a point about some 50 meters from the Pacific Ocean. The reading is 145 times the legal limit.
While tritium is a common hazard at nuclear power plants, the revelation came a day after the utility announced that the same water sample contained 2.35 billion becquerels of cesium and 750 million becquerels of other, unnamed radioactive substances, including strontium, that emit beta rays.
All would likely pose a higher risk of cancer if ingested by humans.
Tepco has been unable to figure out why the groundwater is being tainted with radiation. Its latest theory appears to be that the water in the observation wells on its premises is being tainted by water from the cable trench.
Last week, Tepco admitted that groundwater tainted with radioactive substances leaked into the Pacific from the plant and that the water level in the wells was rising and falling with the ocean tides.
July 27, 2013
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201307270065
Water in a pit on the grounds of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has been found to contain high levels of radioactive substances, the plant operator said July 27.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said the radioactive water likely flowed into the pit during the initial stages of the March 2011 reactor meltdowns because the elevated figures are of levels found in the plant compound in the immediate aftermath of the nuclear disaster.
According to TEPCO, 2.35 billion becquerels of radioactive cesium were detected per liter of water that was sampled July 26 from a cable pit on the ocean side of the No. 2 reactor.
The breakdown was 750 million becquerels of cesium-134 and 1.6 billion becquerels of cesium-137.
A liter of the water was also found to contain 750 million becquerels of radioactive substances that emit beta rays, such as strontium.
Those concentration levels are almost the same as measurements taken during the early phases of the disaster, TEPCO said.
"We believe the highly radioactive water is staying within the pit," a TEPCO official said, adding that the utility will nevertheless check carefully for possible leaks into surrounding soil and seal the ground to block such leaks from reaching the sea.
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