Heavy rains cause another accident at Fukushima

A tank of contaminated water at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant overflowed on Wednesday, spilling 430 liters of poisonous liquid; officials blame both heavier-than-average seasonal rains and a slight tilt of the tank in-question for the emergency. This is just the latest of many incidents at the crippled plant, with each raising alarms amongst both scientists and watchdog groups that the crisis is far from over.

Fukushima reactor control room

Officials scrambled to address the current event, attempting to minimize the damage. Beta radiation levels (which includes the deadly strontium-90) spiked to 200,000 becquerels per liter near the leak, almost 6,667 times greater than the 30 becquerels under which nuclear plants are supposed to safely operate. While they assert the immediate emergency is contained, they cannot guarantee that irradiated water did not escape into the ocean, nor can they rule out the possibility that the groundwater below was also adversely affected.

Tokyo Electric Power Company [TEPCO], which is responsible for Fukushima operations, is assuring both citizens and global officials that the situation is under control. Many are criticizing and mocking the assertions, however, pointing to several previous statements from TEPCO which were proven to be patently false.

The most recent of these - which one expert referred to as 'silly' - is a notion that contaminated water has escaped no further into the Pacific Ocean than a zone of 0.3 square kilometers from the Japanese coast. Despite this and many other egregious declarations, Authority in the island nation continues working in concert with TEPCO, often echoing press releases from the beleaguered power company.

Photo Credit: Kawamoto Takuo (Wikipedia)

Fukushima radiation levels go critical

The Fukushima nuclear plant has - once again - reached a crisis point. Reports yesterday announced that radiation levels at the crippled plant are leaking out at an all-time high, surpassing 2200 millisieverts [mSv] per hour. According to the United States' Nuclear Regulatory Commission, exposure to 50 mSv above normal background radiation per year is considered the absolute highest level of 'safe' exposure; at over 4400% above this threshold, the levels Fukushima is producing would be fatal to anyone exposed in no more than a few hours.

Researchers are in panic mode at this point. When the initial crisis began in March 2011 it was ranked a level seven; only one other incident, the Chernobyl accident, had been categorized as such. Now there are fears that Fukushima could return to that level of emergency, something which did not transpire with the Russian catastrophe; it currently sits at a level four. This has people worried about what effect such a fluctuating, long-term emergency could have, both on the immediate area and to the overall planet.

On top of that groundwater issues have caused the building which houses unit #4 to sink 31 inches into the ground; if left unchecked this could result in a major fission accident. In 1999 such an accident occurred at the Tokaimura plant, and it was viewed as a critical incident. That event sent several workers to the hospital, while driving Authority to lock-down 300,000 citizens for the duration of the emergency. Tokaimura was still a fully-functioning plant when it occurred, yet leaking 4 mSv per hour was considered a major catastrophe; based on this it is understandable that bleeding out over 550 times those levels - from a damaged, defective plant - would cause a certain degree of panic.

As covered here on The Apocalyst early last month Authority in Japan reversed previous assertions about the safety of the plant, announcing that run-off water irradiated to dangerous levels had in fact been draining into the Pacific Ocean at an alarming rate. This eventually lead normally sluggish officials in the US and Canada to call for radiation studies of fish in the region, finally adding their voices to watchdog groups which have been demanding such studies since the accident first occurred.

Japanese officials scrambling to address the crisis are now also dealing with Tropical Storm Toraji; while it is currently stalled (having lost much of its punch), Toraji is still capable of producing extensive severe-storm conditions in and around the crisis area through the end of the week, which will only hamper containment efforts.

Fukushima was extensively damaged due to an earthquake which produced a massive tsunami two and a half years ago. Critics have long asserted that containment efforts since have focused more on containing leaks of information about the true condition of the plant than containing its leaking radiation; at this point, those critics appear vindicated in their assertions.

Calls for fish testing in U.S. west grows

Joining the American Medical Association, nuclear scientists who were once wary of voicing concerns over the potential effects of Japan's Fukushima disaster on U.S. waters are now calling for seafood testing. This push is in response to the recent revelation that at least 300 tons of poisoned ground water has bled into the Pacific Ocean from the damaged nuclear plant.

Recent: Fukushima poisoning the Pacific

The biggest concern is the discovery of elevated levels of strontium 90, a radioactive material that gathers in a fish's bones. Though these spikes have only been recorded in and around Japan, specialists are concerned seafood in the United States is now at risk. While expressing said-concerns, scientists were quick to downplay their own calls for action, making every effort to avoid causing a panic among consumers.

Exposure to strontium 90 can cause certain types of cancers, in addition to endangering expectant mothers and their unborn children. Regarding to the latter, long-time supporters of testing have noted a rise of certain birth defects in babies born on the U.S. west coast - especially hypothyroidism - since the nuclear accident occurred in March 2011.

Fukushima poisoning the Pacific

Japanese Prime Minster Shinto Abe has directed his government to investigate all possible means of placing a halt on radioactive groundwater spreading from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The facility, which was heavily damaged during the earthquake (and subsequent tsunami) of March 2011, is still poisoning the Pacific Ocean via the runoff, per reports. Japanese scientists are considering all options, including 'freezing' the affected water, which many believe will stymie its advance.

Nuclear watchdog groups have been warning about the damage the plant could be causing to the Pacific Ocean since the accident occurred, but Tokyo Power and Light Company (TEPCO) has resisted admitting to any potential crisis. That ended two weeks ago, when the beleaguered company conceded that what the watchdogs had feared was actually transpiring.

While Authority remains hesitant about labeling this a global situation, critics assert that irreversible damage has already been done, and shall continue to occur. They cite independent reports of radioactivity as far away as the U.S./Canadian west coasts, especially in evidence discovered via the fishing industry in the region. Officialdom (representing both government and corporate fishing interests) is not confirming such reports, however, fueling accusations of cover-ups from one side and conspiracy-mongering by the other.