Radioactive ocean contamination three times higher than TEPCO estimate

By arevamirpal::laprimavera
9 September 2011 So says the government corporation Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 5 months after the leak of highly contaminated water was first discovered (in April) at the water intake for Reactor 2 at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. So, instead of 4,700 terabecquerels of radioactive iodine and cesium as TEPCO announced back in May, JAEA says it was 15,000 terabecquerels that leaked into the Pacific Ocean, and that it could have been leaking since March 21, not from April 1. From Yomiuri Shinbun (9/9/2011): […]

小林副主幹らは、原発の取水口付近での放射性物質の濃度をもとに、海で放射性物質が初めて検出された３月２１日から４月３０日までの流出量を逆算した。推計値をもとに海洋への拡散を模擬計算したところ、原発の周辺海域での観測値に合っていることも確かめた。試算ではセシウム１３４を含めていないため、総量はより多くなる。 Kobayashi et al calculated the amount of the leaked water from March 21 to April 30, based on the density of radioactive materials at the water intake of the plant. March 21 was when radioactive materials were detected in seawater for the first time. They also did the simulation of how the radioactive materials spread in the ocean based on their estimate, and confirmed that it matched the observed data in the ocean near the plant. The estimate does not include cesium-134, so the total amount of radioactive materials would be higher.

So the researchers concluded the leak may have been ongoing since March 21, based on the density of radioactive materials at the water intake that TEPCO was announcing. Duh. And TEPCO insisted that the leak started on April 1 or not so long before a worker noticed for the first time, and no one in the media questioned at that time. No one is saying anything now either about this extremely contaminated water that may have been leaking for 10 days before TEPCO even noticed. […]

Ocean Contamination 3 Times As Much As TEPCO Announced store