More Fukushima news...

http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2012/01/at-least-1100-tonnes-of-highly.html    From ex - skf below....

No, this is not April 2011 when they found water whose surface radiation exceeded 1000 millisieverts/hour. (We weren't told how high it was, as their survey meter went overscale.)

TEPCO, ever since they found water leaking into the ocean from the evaporative condensation apparatus (desalination process) in December, has been checking the trenches that they know exist in the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant compound, and just about everywhere they look they are finding contaminated water of varying radioactivity in indeterminable amount.

The discovery on January 19 was rather "hot", as TEPCO's announcement shows:

Discharge valve pit of circulating water pump of Unit 2 pump room

• Amount of "puddle": 500 cubic meters (500 tonnes)
• Surface dose rate: 45 microsieverts/hour
• Cesium-134: 7.1 x 10^3 Bq/cubic centimeter, or 7,100,000 Bq/liter
• Cesium-137: 9.1 x 10^3 Bq/cubic centimeter, or 9,100,000 Bq/liter

Discharge valve pit of circulating water pump of Unit 3 pump room

• Amount of "puddle": 600 cubic meters (600 tonnes)
• Surface dose rate: 21 microsieverts/hour
• Cesium-134: 3.8 x 10^2 Bq/cubic centimeter, or 380,000 Bq/liter
• Cesium-137: 4.8 x 10^2 Bq/cubic centimeter, or 480,000 Bq/liter
  and.......
  
  
  I find it interesting that the surface dose rates do not necessarily correspond to the amount of radioactive cesium in the water. I believe they are measuring gamma rays, not beta. I wonder if TEPCO bothers testing other nuclides.

  TEPCO assures us that the company doesn't think there are leaks to the ocean, because all the trenches that lead to the ocean have been plugged. They are very incurious as to where the water came (or is coming) from.

  It may be good to recall what carried the water highly contaminated with strontium to the ocean in December was a regular side drain, not the concrete trenches and ducts.