Monday, March 26, 2012

Leak from the Pipe after Reverse Osmosis (Desalination) Treatment: 120 Tonnes, 80 Liters May Have Flowed into Ocean

According to Yomiuri Shinbun (3/26/2012), 120 tonnes of the concentrated, contaminated water after the reverse osmosis treatment had leaked from 5:30AM to 8:30PM when a worker noticed the leak and stopped the treatment. 80 liters of this water which contained 140,000 becquerels per cubic centimeter of all beta nuclides including radioactive strontium may have leaked into the ocean, as evidenced by the elevated radioactivity in the sea water at the southern exhaust water drain.

No word on tritium in the Yomiuri article.

TEPCO says the leaked water flowed into the side trench and may have flowed into the ocean.

Side trench? All I can discern is a natural drain of some sort where the gravels trail off and grass and dirt start.

From TEPCO's Photos for Press, 3/26/2012 (click for bigger pictures):

"Side drain":




Pipe that leaked:




Plastic wrap and duct tape are what's holding the system. (Worked for Apollo 13.)

There are a few more pictures at the link.

8 comments:

Chibaguy said...

The article reads like this was only the second time watered leaked into the ocean since last December. I think they mean second time reported.

Anonymous said...

Concerning duct tape - Apollo 13 only needed to be glued together for a few days, but here we are talking about years and more likely centuries or decades????.

You can be sure, that all these quick fixes will be kept in place especially when the public attention of this site decreases further and further down the road...

Anonymous said...

All the drainage in the tank farm and upper plateau drains out 330 m south from the plant. This is why there sampling point for the unit 1 to 4 ocean discharge is also 330 m south of the plant. The question that has never been answered is this. 'Is the sampling point north or south of the drainage line?'. If north, because the side shore currents run north to south, then it's missing alot of outflow contamination. And knowing Tepco, it probably is north of the drainage line.

Atomfritz said...

Adding to anon 9:36, I doubt that we can determine from a single water sample that just 80 liters of this concoction entered the ocean. I won't be surprised if Tepco quietly will correct the number to 80 cubic meters or so soon.

Tepco didn't explain how they determined it was just 80 liters leaked in the ocean when the ocean water sample contained 1700 Bq/liter beta and the contamination lasted for more than 24 hours. Which would be even more worrying if the sampling point is north of the drainage line.

Atomfritz said...

Ah, oh!
They somehow announced two additional seawater survey points: http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/images/handouts_120326_09-e.pdf

Anonymous said...

Why isn't 'news' covering this???
These events are urgent in importance.
And TEPCO doesn't know how to cool a cocktail!

Unknown said...

I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I think I will leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.pipe screens

Unknown said...

Hi people,
Thank you so much for this wonderful article really!
If someone want to learn more about how the Purified Water I think this is the right place for you!

Post a Comment