TEPCO is " sorry " that SARRY doesn't work .... joining Kurion cesium absorption system and AREVA co - precipitation system on the failure scrap heap soon ? BTW , if there is only seven days left of storage capacity , where does highly contaminated water go on the eighth day ? If you guess the Pacific Ocean , you win the booby prize ! Unless Tepco is immediately removed from being in charge of whatever reduction of contamination - let alone moving forward to shutting down the ongoing debacle , Japan will be destroyed slowly and methodically ....

TUESDAY, JULY 30, 2013

One Thing or Another at #Fukushima I Nuke Plant Series No. N: SARRY (Cesium Absorption System) Stopped

What's more worrisome than SARRY being stopped (TEPCO does have backups - Kurion's cesium absorption towers and AREVA's decontamination system if they really need treatment) is how little capacity left in storing the highly contaminated water (7 days worth).

According to TEPCO's email notice for the press (7/31/2013):

７月30日、「ブースターポンプ停止／漏えい検知」の警報が発生し、第二セシウム吸着装置（サリー）が停止したことについての続報です。

SARRY (cesium absorption system) stopped after an alarm sounded on July 30 signaling "Booster pump stopped/leak detection".

今回停止したブースターポンプはＢ系であり、現場の警報盤を確認したところ、セシウム吸着塔に異常を示す警報が発生していることを確認しました。

The booster pump that stopped is on Line B. On checking the alarm board on site, we confirmed that there was an alarm indicating there was something wrong with the cesium absorption tower.

停止に至った詳細な現場調査および待機中のブースターポンプ（Ａ）の起動準備を、本日（７月31日）朝から開始いたします。

We will conduct a detailed investigation this morning (July 31) to understand how the system stopped and prepare to start the backup booster pump on Line A.

なお、第二セシウム吸着装置（サリー）の処理が停止しても滞留水の受け入れは、集中廃棄物処理施設（高温焼却炉建屋）と集中廃棄物処理施設（プロセス主建屋）を合わせて約７日分の余裕があること、また、原子炉への注水は復水貯蔵タンクと淡水化装置を合わせて約12日分が確保されていることを確認しました。

Even if processing [of contaminated water] by SARRY is stopped, we have about 7 days worth of capacity to store contaminated water in Solid Waste Processing Facilities buildings. We have confirmed that about 12 days worth of reactor cooling water is secured in the condensate storage tank and the desalination apparatus.

In the desalination apparatus?? I suppose TEPCO means tanks that store water treated by the desalination apparatus.

I knew TEPCO had long stopped using Kurion's cesium absorption system and AREVA's co-precipitation system, but I don't think I read or heard anywhere why they stopped using them. 

Japan's disaster slowly unfolds.....

07:23 PM EST on July 31st, 2013 | Leave a comment

Tepco admits contaminated water in ground could start coming to surface at Fukushima nuclear plant — Groundwater levels ‘rising rapidly’ near reactors — Caused by recent work at site?

12:31 PM EST on July 31st, 2013 | 21 comments

Asahi: Grave situation as highly radioactive ‘mystery steam’ and water are released into ground, sea, and air from Fukushima plant — Tepco’s entire focus should be to prevent contamination from escaping — “Appallingly shoddy handling… Glaring ineptitude”

11:13 AM EST on July 31st, 2013 | 27 comments

‘Water Storage Nightmare’: Bolts in Fukushima tanks will corrode in just a few years, plant workers reveal — “Tepco says it doesn’t know how long tanks will hold” -Reuters

01:24 PM EST on July 30th, 2013 | 52 comments

Official reveals contamination levels at Fukushima plant are likely higher outside reactor units than inside — ‘Serious threat’ if trenches leak a large amount of water

12:30 PM EST on July 30th, 2013 | 22 comments

‘Alarm bells’ over state of Fukushima plant — Official: Gov’t will investigate how radioactive contamination is impacting life in Pacific Ocean; “Problems… are more complicated than (we) initially thought”

[Column] Tepco literally “swamped” in sea contamination prevention

Posted by Mochizuki on July 31st, 2013 · 2 Comments

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Tepco is building the impervious wall on the coastal line, but since they started the construction, the groundwater level is rising.

On 7/31/2013, Tepco stated it may come up to the ground in the worst case.

Tepco’s spokes man didn’t look like he was sharing the sense of danger just like before the contamination was spreading to the sea and any other past accidents.

Yesterday I wrote this column.

[Column] Accumulated groundwater may overflow to up-ground in early August [URL]

Tepco officially admitted it can be true.

Tepco commented they have no evaluation about what is going on.

Groundwater is now getting out of their control. Here I would like to show 3 facts and possibilities that we must be informed.

1. Impervious wall is not stopping sea contamination.

They are building the wall in order to stop the contaminated groundwater flowing to the sea, but it’s not stopped.

There are large spaces above the wall, and also the both ends of the wall. Tepco stated the groundwater is flowing to the sea from those spaces.

The contamination level in the port is increasing actually.

2. Contaminated groundwater may be spreading to other areas of the plant.

A lot of groundwater is traveling toward the sea. Because groundwater is accumulated already, newly charged water is retained on the mountain side and also to other reactor areas.

Tepco commented they don’t have any data to show how widely it is spreading.

Now the contaminated water area is being enlarged.

3. The east side of reactor2 is becoming literally “swamped”.

Although they can’t stop the sea contamination, it’s also bringing the side effect to the land side.

From the latest data, the groundwater is already coming up to only 1m below the ground. Nothing can be allowed to be built in such an area in the usual occasion.

If the water comes up even more, it would seriously affect the soundness of the structures in the area and it may make it more difficult to work with heavy equipment.