TEPCO’s Contaminated Water System Is In Collapse

Tepco’s contaminated water system started collapsing (Fukushima Diary, Oct 3, 2013):

It’s been only 2 years and 6 months. However, Fukushima decommissioning is already falling apart.

It’s starting from the contaminated water storage. As long as they keep giving water to the reactors, it must increase. Now it’s already beyond Tepco’s capacity.

Having the third typhoon season after 311, the contaminated water system is starting to be collapsed.

I cannot even imagine what would happen, but I listed up the three potential results. All of them are likely.

1. Simultaneous leakages

The cause of 300m3 leakage hasn’t been identified yet. They have 350 tanks of the same type in the plant. According to the makers, some of them don’t even last for 5 years. However, there is no spare storage. All we could do is just to pray.

Even only for a Typhoon, Tepco required 2,100 workers. If those tanks (in Plural) start leaking at once, they are not capable to treat them. This is the water version of 311 ?.

2. Lack of the storage

At least 400m3 of contaminated groundwater flows to the plant. However, Tepco doesn’t have a plan to construct the new welded tanks after this October.

It takes 2 months to build the tank, but it is estimated they will run out of the storage this November ~ December. They can’t even find the land to build the new tanks.

3. Past radiation measurement readings might be all false

NRA (Nuclear Regulation Authority) has been pointing out Tepco’s radiation data doesn’t make sense. It shows no rational trends, and Tepco has no logical explanation for that. NRA plans to send inspectors to the analyzing site.

Whether Tepco was intentionally trying to downplay the contamination level, “a part of (I hope not ALL)” their past data may be thought to be false based on the wrong means of analysis.

 

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