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TEPCO struggling to find somewhere to store contaminated water

38 Comments
By Mari Yamaguchi

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38 Comments
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Thats why it is obvious nuke energy business model is dirty, risky, environmentally suicidal, unethical and mind-bogglingly expensive. Nuke energy is not for Japan and the earlier it is eliminated, the better...

16 ( +16 / -1 )

I'm tired of this kind of sensationalist news.

-19 ( +1 / -18 )

just do electrolysis on that and the remaining particles will be some milligrams of radioactive materials.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Haven't they been storing it in the Pacific Ocean?

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Like I said way way back the contaminated water will mostly end up in the ocean, either but direct leaks, intentional dumping, new leaks in the reactor & these storage tanks, or by more earthquakes & or tsunami, only time will tell which of the above but it will be one of the above.

The simply will not be able to "temporarely " store this stuff, cant be done long term simple as that, the ocean will continue to beckon this water

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Zichi. The whole world can't be earthquake proof. Something has to be done. What's your idea. The further they have to transport it the more risk of spilling it or spreading the radiation. I mean really. What is more of a great a gains massive ear quake, or a 1000 trucks moving radiative water and one of them getting in an accident and leaking¿

0 ( +3 / -3 )

How much do you want to bet there will be an 'accidental' MAJOR 'leakage' into the ocean in the next few months (reported by foreign experts, of course)?

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Japan and the Japanese got themselves into this fine mess, Japan and the Japanese and all of the other countries that "helped" Japan build these stupid nuclear reactors need to get on the ball, fix this mess, stop the nuclear leaks, contaminated water etc..ASAP, the IAEA etc...should also be on the ground up there in Fukushima, at least trying to help Japan clean up this horrible mess! I feel so sad for the good people of Fukushima who will never ever be able to go back to their homes, never will be able to tend to their fields, etc..not for many, many generations to come.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

The article shows ignorance by the write (something that we have alas come to get used to). There is no such thing as "radioactive water". Water can not be radioactive by definition. What is radioactive are contaminants in the water. Filter them, and the problem is solved. The whole issue really is one of filtering capacity.

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

Let all the people who support nuclear powder drink it.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

It's leaking but I thought for sure the radioactive water was being dumped intentionally into the ocean. I remembered this article below.

Published: April 24th, 2012 at 7:34 am ET By ENENews Tepco to dump groundwater from under reactor buildings into ocean — Kyodo: 1,000 tons a day; “Tepco would check contamination level before releasing it”

Title: TEPCO seeks to reduce groundwater flowing into reactor buildings- 毎日jp(毎日新聞) Source: Kyodo Date: Apr 24, 2012

http://enenews.com/tepco-dump-groundwater-reactor-buildings-ocean-kyodo-1000-tons-day-tepco-check-contamination-level-before-releasing

1 ( +1 / -0 )

They knew they were producing tonnes of contaminated water, they haven't prepared for the possibilities, all too familiar the disregard of the consequences, the of cutting corners, the attempts at money saving, the diabolical incompetence these idiots are guilty of AGAIN goes beyond anything any one person in the history of humanity has been found guilty of. And GUILTY they are. Simply beyond belief. PLAN FOR the CONSEQUENCES! TEPCO 'management' really REALLY needs to dismissed and an international team brought in.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Here's an idea: build floating storage tanks out in the ocean. They will ride out any quake or tsunami.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

This is very disheartening but necessary news. I don't doubt that everyone possible is doing their best to solve the various problems and the comments here mostly seem constructive rather than in previous times where the lynching some one was the best solution. Its good to be informed and kept up to date with developments all be it not good. Thanks JT and those like "zichi" and others that make constructive comments here really do help me see the broader picture from many perspectives. I hope JT can keep this in the public eye and its picked up by forgien press so the world can work together to solve the problems. I often wonder about the situation in Chernobyl and saw some news about that at the time the Fukushima situation began.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

The resources being directed at this problem are not at all adequate.Does the world wait until we are all sickening from radiation poisoning or does it make a concerted effort to contain these toxins now? It is cowardly and irresponsible to leave future generations to clear up this horrendous mess-we need to tackle it properly now.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Nuclear engineer and college lecturer Masashi Goto said the contaminated water buildup poses a long-term health and environmental threat. He worries that the radioactive water in the basements may already be getting into the underground water system, where it could reach far beyond the plant, possibly the ocean or public water supplies. “You never know where it’s leaking out and once it’s out, you can never put it back in place,” he said. “It’s just outrageous and shows how big a disaster this is.”

TEPCO tries to find somewhere to store contaminated water ? No, you can't! Do you guys want to further spread radioactive material to other places during the whole procedure like transportation; refilling; storing... etc., do you believe people of that somewhere will accept it and what's the radius of that zone need to evacuate people? If TEPCO people always consider works this way, I really worry their future.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Where do you think the water has been going? In the ocean, shock.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

TEPCO have been trying to film the upper floors of the No1 reactor building to see the amount of damage from the explosion. Hitachi made a large ballon with a camera attached and sent it up the nuclear fuel elevator shaft to the 5th floor which houses the spend pool.

Cant we just ask death row inmates to go in there with a camera? Make a deal with them. Let them live out their final months on Senkaku islands or something.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Oh, F#€K! These idiots should be jailed! That have 18 months to get their shit together and have done bugger all! I remember them talking about building a water treatment facility on-site over a year ago. All they have done is cut down trees and made more tanks. And that little comment about radioactive water reaching the ground water is true. It is already there. It is just a comedy of errors and would be hilarious if they weren't stuffing with the health of nearly half the population of Japan and a large area of the N/W Pacific Ocean. I doubt if these twits could organize a root in a brothel, better less clean up the worst nuclear disaster in 30 years.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

warispeace:

" Haven't they been storing it in the Pacific Ocean? "

It would be the easiest thing in the world, and you can bet your behind that if a similar nuclear accident happened in a less developed and less democratic country, that is EXACTLY what they´d been doing, and we would never hear anything about it. Does anybody here seriously think that if e.g. the Iranian mullah regime is reporting how it is dealing with the massive amounts of contaminated material that results from its nuclear bomb program?

What none of the habitual complainers here seems to understand that it is actually a good thing that we can openly read about the problems that Tepco is dealing with. The majority of existing (not even to mention future) nuclear operators do not acto that responsibly.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Business ideas: Open a radioactive water treatment plant in Senkaku islands.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

To WilliB article shows ignorance by the write (something that we have alas come to get used to). There is no such thing as >>"radioactive water". Water can not be radioactive by definition. What is radioactive are contaminants in the water. Filter >>, and the problem is solved. The whole issue really is one of filtering capacity.

You seems to me,as the only person to write something sensible in this topic

-7 ( +0 / -7 )

Dump some red food coloring in it, bottle it, and sell it as beaujolais nouveau. It may even taste better than the real beaujolais nouveau. Voilas. Simultaneously solve the problem AND raise reconstruction funds...

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I'm going to be very suspicious of free mineral water hand-outs from now on...

2 ( +2 / -0 )

For those here talking about filters and filtering out radioactive particles from the water. It is important to understand that many of the contaminants are not 'particles' that simply can be filtered out.

Cesium for example, is a metallic salt, with very high water solubility. Once it is solved in the water it can not be easily filtered out again in the ways that people normally think about filtering.

Perhaps reverse osmosis could be used, but the filters would quickly clog up from other contaminants I suppose.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Additional info, I think it is safe to assume that most of the cesium in the tanks are actually in the form of.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesium_hydroxide

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Just flush it into the sea. Nobody will know!

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Just give it a good boil n strain it through a sock. Thats what Bear would do n he almost never gets sick.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Can you imagine this nuke electricity thing was once sold as clean, sustainable, cheap, blah blah blah! Only one nuke site and the whole country is on its knees! how about if it were about 4 sites set ablaze by a terrorist gang? What would happen? where would people go to on this small island? Theres urgent need for leadership on this nuke energy thing

3 ( +3 / -0 )

So they are having contaminated water at break neck speed--much faster than getting it purified and pumping it back to the reactor. And there’s little extra space available for water tanks? This is so called situation hanging on the cliff with nails.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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