Fukushima Updates ( August 9 , 2014 ) Inevitable that Tepco would finally admit they will dump highly contaminated water directly into the Pacific Ocean...... Also inevitable that no matter how often Tepco and Japan lie about the dire state of affairs , they eventually will have to come clean and discuss the brutal truths - Japan is a dead nation walking and the rest of the planet is screwed ( think food chain clusterfark , water / air contamination which will be ongoing for centuries. )

Inevitability......

http://enenews.com/shock-water-fukushima-reactors-be-dumped-ocean-attempts-deal-problem-failed-officials-better-allowing-contamination-spill-directly-ocean-like-video

‘Shock’: Water underneath Fukushima reactors to be dumped in ocean — Attempts to deal with problem have ‘failed’ — Officials: It’s better than radioactive substances just “spilling directly into the ocean” like it is now 

AFP, Aug. 7, 2014 (emphasis added): Tepco ‘running out of space’ for tainted water — [Tepco] on Thursday unveiled a plan to dump scrubbed water directly into the ocean, sparking concerns over whether it would be properly decontaminated. […] {Tepco] has admitted that it’s running out of space. It is also fighting to contain contaminated groundwater around the plant from seeping into the ocean […] [Tepco] said it now wants to start pumping out the underground water, purify it […] and then release it […] the firm has long faced criticism over delays in disclosing key information […]

NHK, Aug. 6, 2014: Highly radioactive water [...] is seeping into the earth and mixing with ground water. Experts estimate around 200 [or 400] tons of contaminated ground water are leaking into the ocean each day. [Tepco wants] to decontaminate ground water collected at wells near reactor buildings before releasing it into the ocean. […] They say their plan is an improvement on the current situation, as contaminated water is spilling directly intothe ocean.

Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug 7, 2014: Groundwater to be pumped up from some of the subdrain pits includes high levels of tritium, a radioactive substance that cannot be removed [...] However, TEPCO believes it is possible to [...] meet standards if the water is mixed in tanks with water pumped from other subdrain pits.

Kyodo, Aug 7, 2014: Tepco to collect toxic groundwater at Fukushima, dump in ocean after treatment [...] it is unclear whether [the plan] will work as smoothly as expected, one of the officials admitted. [...] Radioactive substances such as tritium and cesium have been detected [but] TEPCO says it aims to clean the water to a level that would do no harm to the environment, but tritium will remain untreated [...]

Asahi Shimbun, Aug 7, 2014: [Tepco] wants to dump decontaminated water [...] into the ocean. [TEPCO] is in talks with government ministries to pump contaminated water found around the buildings [...] process it [...] then release it [...] “We would never consider dumping the water into the ocean unless we received the consent of local residents,” a TEPCO official said. [...] it would be the first time [...] for contaminated water to be dumped into the ocean after it has been purified. [...] “The water close to the plant buildings is already contaminated,” the official said. “Fishermen are sure to raise objections” [...]

Bloomberg, Aug 4, 2014: [E]stimates [...] suggest filtering the isotope strontium out of stored water will take more time [than Tepco's March 31, 2015 deadline.] Strontium has been linked to leukemia and can enter the food chain [...] Delays in the cleanup could extend a South Korean ban on Japanese seafood imports [...] Michael Friedlander, a former nuclear engineer [said] “They’re basically accumulating vast quantities of radioactive material that isn’t in control” [...] Corrosion has delayed full use of a filtration system known as ALPS [...] Tepco said aplan to divert groundwater into the sea [...] has so far failed [...]

NHK, Aug. 7, 2014: [TEPCO] is running a so-called bypass system [...] But groundwater continues to flow into the reactors’ buildings and become contaminated. Part of it is believed to be seeping into the nearby Pacific Ocean. […] In the closed-door meeting, the officials are said to have explained that they plan to collect contaminated groundwater both at wells near reactor buildings and [...] a coastal embankment. […] Fisheries association head Hiroyuki Sato told reporters that fishermen were shocked to hear that the measure is needed [...]

http://enenews.com/japan-officials-increasingly-alarmed-thousands-tons-plutonium-contaminated-liquid-fukushima-trenches-leaking-ocean-biggest-risk-plant-exceptionally-difficult-problem

Wall St. Journal, Aug 7, 2014 (emphasis added): [Shunichi Tanaka, chairman of the Nuclear Regulation Authority] said [Tepco] needs to get its priorities straight when it comes to work to decommission [...] Fukushima Daiichi [...] “The biggest risk is the trench water. Until that matter is addressed, it will be difficult to proceed with other decommissioning work,” [Tanaka] said on Wednesday at his weekly news conference. “It appears that they are getting off track,” he told reporters. Tepco has been trying to remove some 11,000 metric tons of water thatcontains dangerous radioactive materials such as uranium and plutonium from a trench that runs from the Fukushima Daiichi plant’s No.2 reactor building. […] “What if another tsunami hits the plant and the highly contaminated water in the trench is discharged… ?” Mr. Tanaka asked reporters.

NHK, July, 30, 2014: TEPCO initially planned to freeze radioactive wastewater that’s been flowing into underground utility tunnels [trenches] at the plant. It hoped the measure would prevent the wastewater from mixing with groundwater and flowing out to sea. But 3 months into the project, the water hasn’t frozen as planned.

Nuclear Engineering International, August 7, 2014: TEPCO has admitted that it has having problems with freezing contaminated water flowing in trenches  [...] The water in the trenches is [...] coming into contact with nuclear material[...]  because the water flows in and out of the trenches because of water pumping operations, it has proved ‘exceptionally difficult’ to freeze, TEPCO said. This was despite increasing the flow of coolant, adding ice and dry ice to the trench water [...]

Kyodo, Aug. 5, 2014: Tepco is racing to stop the buildup of radioactive cooling water in the trenches. […] Tepco inserted refrigeration rods in the trenches to try to freeze the water butabandoned the effort after more than three frustrating months. […] Though [Tepco has now put] 58 tons of ice in the trenches, the utility has “yet to see” whether it will work [...] The new method was introduced after an increasingly alarmed Nuclear Regulation Authority urged the company last month to take additional steps as soon as possible [...]

World Nuclear News, July 24, 2014: New approaches to removing the contaminated water from trenches [...] after attempts to freeze it failed. [...] The trenches contain highly-contaminated water that has flowed from the main power plant buildings [...] Tepco said that, despite the success of early experiments, “it has proved exceptionally difficult” to freeze the trench water. This, it said, is due to the constant flow of water into and out of the trench [...]

See also: TV: Nuclear waste “flowing out to sea” from underground tunnels at Fukushima — 950 Billion Bq/m³ of cesium in Unit 2 shaft next to ocean — 11,000 tons estimated in tunnels — Gov’t regulators ‘urgently assessing’ problems (VIDEO)

http://enenews.com/news-agency-fuel-melted-deeper-concrete-reactor-3-revealed-triple-depth-original-estimate-tepco-impossible-evaluate-potential-impact

Japan Times, Aug 6, 2014: Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Wednesday that its new estimate shows that all the fuel rods in reactor 3 at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant apparently melted down and fell onto the bottom of the containment vessel. […] According to the newestimate, all the melted fuel penetrated the pressure vessel, fell onto the bottom of the containment vessel and melted about 68 cm into the concrete. […]

Malaysian National News Agency (statutory body established by Malaysian parliament), Aug. 7, 2014: According to TEPCO’s latest analysis, nuclear fuel in the No. 3 unit reached the melting point of 2,200 degrees Celsius around 5:30 a.m. on March 13 […] it now sees the possibility that the water injection stopped around 8 p.m. the previous day. […] The melted fuel is estimated to have eroded the concrete-made reactor container by 68cm,much deeper than the 20cm estimated in November 2011, TEPCO said. But the company denied that the fuel went through the containment vessel to reach the soil.

Asahi Shimbun, Aug 7, 2014: Almost all of the nuclear fuel in the No. 3 reactor of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant melted within days of the March 11, 2011 disaster, according to a new estimate […] TEPCO originally estimated that about 60 percent of the nuclear fuel melted at the reactor. But the latest estimate released on Aug. 6 revealed that the fuel started to melt about six hours earlier than previously thought. […] TEPCO official said […] “It is still impossible for us to evaluate the potential impact (of the findings) on the decommissioning of the reactor.” […] many details of the disaster remain unknown, TEPCO is still looking into the causes of the disaster. […] TEPCO made a new estimate based on the premise that the [Unit 3] cooling mechanism stopped functioning at 8 p.m. on March 12, when the internal pressure dropped sharply. […] TEPCO said it will now consider how to remove the melted nuclear fuel from the No. 3 reactor.

See also: NHK: "This is a very severe accident" -- Nuclear fuel at Reactor No. 1 may have melted through 65 cm of concrete... Only 37 cm at thinnest point (PHOTOS)

Simply Info......

Fukushima Contaminated Water Problems Worsen

August 9th, 2014 | Add a Comment

TEPCO announced this week that they wanted to begin pumping up water from the sub drains near the reactor buildings. This comes as they were also admitting the efforts to freeze the trench were not going well. TEPCO’s plan would included decontaminating this water before dumping it into the sea. The disaster site has struggled with water decontamination for years and just announced recently that they think they finally have the ALPS decontamination system operational. None … Read entire article »

TEPCO Admits Unit 3 Had Total Melt Through

TEPCO has admitted that the fuel at unit 3 had a complete melt through. This is where 100% of the fuel melts and drops into the containment vessel. TEPCO previously estimated 60% of the fuel melted through. They now claim that the HPCI (cooling system) ceased working at 5:30 am March 13, 5 hours earlier than the previous estimate. This … Read entire article »

TEPCO Claims ALPS Decontamination System To Be Operational By End Of Year

TEPCO hopes to have two new installations of ALPS completed in September and October of this year. The company is also now claiming that the current system has been able to remove considerable amounts of additional types of radiation down to below regulatory limits, though amounts of these isotopes still exist in the water. The water would also still contain … Read entire article »