Contaminated water may still be leaking into Pacific

[xchrom]

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120308a5.html

A group of researchers has reported that radiation-contaminated water could still be leaking into the sea from the Fukushima No. 1 power plant.

Data on radioactive cesium in the sea near the plant nearly a year after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami triggered multiple meltdowns show a slower than expected decline in concentrations, according to the group, which includes Michio Aoyama of the Meteorological Research Institute.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said it does not believe contaminated water is currently leaking into the sea.

Although data for the past three to four months indicate a slower decline in cesium concentrations, current levels are far lower than those recorded just after the disaster, Tepco said.

Last April, Tepco found that contaminated water was leaking into the sea and stopped the flow by injecting chemicals into the ground.

[kristopher]

1. Contamination from incinerated contaminated debris is getting into Tokyo Bay

Yokohama City Stopped Using Zeolite after Only One Month at Its Final Disposal Site on Tokyo Bay

Yokohama City, which has been dumping the radioactive ashes with low radioactivity from burning household garbage at its final disposal landfill (Minami Honmoku) on Tokyo Bay since September last year, has said the runoff water is safely treated by the cesium absorption towers with zeolite.

Well they lied. They used the absorption towers for one month and stopped using them, but never bothered to tell they stopped using them.

In one month, they used 5500 kilograms of zeolite, which absorbed 5000 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium. In other words, 27.5 million becquerels of radioactive cesium was effectively caught. So the city thought "Oh that's good", and stopped using zeolite.

From Sankei Shinbun Kanto local version (3/6/2012):

セシウム浄化装置の使用停止説明せず　横浜市

Yokohama City didn't explain why it stopped using the cesium absorption system...

http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2012/03/yokohama-city-stopped-using-zeolite.html


This kind of behavior is nuts.