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August 2012 Incidents

 

August 2012 Incidents

 

2012.08.06     Footage of TEPCO's TV conference

TEPCO has documented all conferences in the immediate wake of the disaster by video footage. Press people and historians can reconstruct who said what and how the decisions on accident measures have been made. Since TEPCO published only part of the material this is the high time for speculations on the secrets of Fukushima.

This material is not really interesting from the technical point of view: What has happened, has happened and this analysis of this material is not really helpful. The only valuable conclusion to be drawn is that TEPCO is communicating openly with the public and still is trying to hide its responsibility.

2012.08.08     Result of Investigation on Unit 1 Operating Floor at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

TEPCO has tried to send a camera equipped gas balloon up to the fifth floor in unit 1. The balloon stuck in between and did not reach the SPF. It took some good pictures of the isolation condenser tanks. The damage is impressing, that was a real strong detonation in unit 1. The investigation did not give any clues why the Isolation Condensors (IC) have performed poorly in the accident

2012.08.09     Reliability Improvement of the Second Cesium Absorption Apparatus

Basically, the make-shift water treatment system is of low quality and its quality should not be confused with the top quality of nuclear installations. There are frequent problems with the piping and the electrical equipment. Today some leakage has occurred and the complete nuclear program was run: fix the leakage, control the radioactivity, clean up the mess and make sure that this problem will not occur again and ..... write a lengthy report to the authorities explaining that it was not your fault or your responsibility but some nebulous whatever.

 
2012.08.10     Removal of PCV Lid from the Upper Part of Unit 4 Reactor Building at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

The removal of the yellow PCV lid from the fifth floor of unit 4 is a milestone n the Fukushima plant clean-up. From the TEPCO report it is not clear why the lid was cut in halves but TEPCO managed to lift the lid from the floor down to the ground without mayor problems. The fifth floor has been cleaned up, all debris has been removed and it is now ready for the auxiliary cover which is a prerequisite for the removal of the radioactive fuel elements from the SPF.

2012.8.14     White Smoke Coming out of the Cesium Absorption

One comment only: make-shift. Some electric equipment of the cesium absorption apparatus failed and was replaced.

2012.08.14  Water Leakage in Unit 4 Turbine Building at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

The usual minor incidents: The picture says it all.

 

 
2012.8.17     Water Leakage from the Desalination System (Reverse Osmosis Membrane) 3

The usual minor incidents: A flange broke, but it has to be clearly stated: This is typical for a make-shift installation and NOT for a nuclear plant!

 
2012.8.21     Nuclide Analysis Results of Fish and Shellfish (Greenling)

Good news. The examination of fish caught off Fukushima showed low contamination values. Fishermen are eager to go to work agains and are hoping that consumers will eat this low contaminated fish. The problem is, if you have experienced a certain level of radiation during the accident eating this fish will add to your integral radiation exposure.

2012.8.22     Cardio-respiratory arrest of a contract worker

Another worker from a subcontractor died on the worksite: At around 10:35 AM on August 22, a worker from cooperative company who worked at the adding work of contaminated water storage tanks was found unconscious in the rest room of the Welfare Building. The worker had the medical treatment by a doctor at the Unit 5 and 6 emergency medical room. As cardio-respiratory arrest was confirmed, the worker was transported from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station to Iwaki Kyoritsu General Hospital at 11:34 AM on the same day. For reference, no radioactive material was found on the body.
The admin is concerned about the number of workers from subcontractors that have already died at work. TEPCO should take the responsibility and control that only workers fit enough for the work come to work on the plant site.

2012.8.23     Videos on Entering/Exiting Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and Checking of Dosimeter and Wearing Tyvek (Prototype with the Chest Area Being Transparent) at the Exit of the Main Anti-earthquake Building

As has been reported in July 2012 some subcontractors tried to taint the personal dosimeter measuring by putting a lead foil over the personal dosimeter. There was a public uproar in the press and TEPCO has introduced a more severe radiation surveillance program. It has also modified the Tyvek jump suit in such a way that dosimeters are visible from the outside.

For all subcontractors who may not know how to mainipulate the personal dosimeter TEPCO has published an illustrated instruction leaflet ( in Japanese only)

2012.8.27     Installation of multi-nuclide removal equipment

 TEPCO has published some pictures on the installation of a new additional cleaning facility called "multi-nuclide removal equipment". But TEPCO does not give any technical details of this facility.

2012.8.28     Soundness Investigation of the Unused (Unirradiated) Fuel Removed from Unit 4 Spent Fuel Pool at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

Before the auxiliary cover on unit 4 can be erected TEPCO has to demonstrate that the unit 4 building is structurally sound and strong enough for the additional loads. One of the first measures TEPCO has immediately after the accident was to build additional support under the unit 4 SPF using a steel construction and a lot of concrete. TEPCO never has explained what kind of damage has been detected in the unit 4 structure which made TEPCO take these measures.

Basically a concrete structure of this size will not collapse but cracks may constiute a big problem as the leak tightness of the SPF relies on the thin steel liner and the concrete walls. In view of the fact that  a complete core of used highly radioactive fuel elements is stored in the unit 4 SPF a mayor leakage could lead to a new nuclear disaster with a high release of radioactivity.

To avoid such a disaster the SPF has to be filled with water and in case of a leak the loss of water has to be replaced immediately!

In several report TEPCO tries to demonstrate that the structure is sound and did not experience but minor cracks and did not loose it strength. But as long as TEPCO does not explain what kind of damage led to the reinforcement of the SPF support and what are the reasons for their intensive examination it is reasonable to assume that the damage of unit 4 is larger than TEPCO has admitted and TEPCO is trying to cover up the real dangers.

2012.8.28     Examination of the Unused (Unirradiated) Fuel Removed from Unit 4 Spent Fuel Pool at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

Good news: The examination of the unused fuel element showed no visible damage at all, as shown by the picture. Only some mild deposit from the impurities of the SPF water, which could be easily removed by wiping with a paper towel.

2012.8.28     TEPCO is trying to fool the public with poorly manipulated pictures

In connection with the investigation of the unit 4 structural soundness TEPCO has published the following picture of unit 4:

The manipulated area is between the green containers and the blue mashine.

TEPCO has eliminated theentrance door at the ground level. It is not evident why TEPCO is doing this poor manipulation. This raises the suspicion that the damage of unit 4 structure is more severe than can be concluded from the TEPCO publications. Who ever did this poor manipulation surely wanted to make the public aware of the fact that TEPCO is trying to cover up the damage and this is a perfect way for an insider to communicate with the public.

The picture shows this side of unit 4 immediately after the accident.

The truck entry tunnel has been removed but there has to be the truck entrance door!