At least six underground tanks containing nuclear waste in the north-western US state of Washington are leaking, but a spokeswoman says there is no imminent threat to public health.

The US Energy Department told the state last week that one tank was leaking at the Hanford nuclear site.

But energy secretary Steven Chu informed its governor Jay Inslee on Friday that more leaks had been discovered.

“Secretary Chu let him know today that there are actually more tanks they’ve discovered leaking, at least six, possibly more,” Mr Inslee’s spokeswoman Jaime Smith told AFP.

“At this point we don’t believe that there’s any imminent threat to public health. Of course we’re concerned, because we don’t have any information yet about the extent of the leak or how long they’ve been going on.”

Asked for details of the leaking material, she said: “It’s nuclear waste. Different tanks have slightly different kinds of waste that they’re holding. We’re not clear yet on exactly what has been leaking for how long.”

The Hanford nuclear site in the south-west of the US state was used to produce plutonium for the bomb that brought an end to World War II.

Output grew after 1945 to meet the challenges of the Cold War, but the last reactor closed down in 1987. Its website says: “Weapons production processes left solid and liquid wastes that posed a risk to the local environment.”

It is the Western hemisphere’s most contaminated nuclear site, with 200 million litres of radioactive waste stored in aging tanks and billions of dollars a year invested in clean-up.

The ecological threat extends to the Columbia River, it added, noting that in 1989 US federal and Washington state authorities agreed on a deal to clean up the Hanford Site.

The Washington governor’s spokeswoman said they hoped for more information about the leaking tanks soon.

“The Department of Energy has committed to try and get us more information pretty quickly, hopefully within the next week or so. So we should have more information soon,” she said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-02-23/underground-tanks-leak-nuclear-waste-in-us/4535750

wookiemeister said:

At least six underground tanks containing nuclear waste in the north-western US state of Washington are leaking, but a spokeswoman says there is no imminent threat to public health.

The US Energy Department told the state last week that one tank was leaking at the Hanford nuclear site.

But energy secretary Steven Chu informed its governor Jay Inslee on Friday that more leaks had been discovered.

“Secretary Chu let him know today that there are actually more tanks they’ve discovered leaking, at least six, possibly more,” Mr Inslee’s spokeswoman Jaime Smith told AFP.

“At this point we don’t believe that there’s any imminent threat to public health. Of course we’re concerned, because we don’t have any information yet about the extent of the leak or how long they’ve been going on.”

Asked for details of the leaking material, she said: “It’s nuclear waste. Different tanks have slightly different kinds of waste that they’re holding. We’re not clear yet on exactly what has been leaking for how long.”

The Hanford nuclear site in the south-west of the US state was used to produce plutonium for the bomb that brought an end to World War II.

Output grew after 1945 to meet the challenges of the Cold War, but the last reactor closed down in 1987. Its website says: “Weapons production processes left solid and liquid wastes that posed a risk to the local environment.”

It is the Western hemisphere’s most contaminated nuclear site, with 200 million litres of radioactive waste stored in aging tanks and billions of dollars a year invested in clean-up.

The ecological threat extends to the Columbia River, it added, noting that in 1989 US federal and Washington state authorities agreed on a deal to clean up the Hanford Site.

The Washington governor’s spokeswoman said they hoped for more information about the leaking tanks soon.

“The Department of Energy has committed to try and get us more information pretty quickly, hopefully within the next week or so. So we should have more information soon,” she said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-02-23/underground-tanks-leak-nuclear-waste-in-us/4535750

Thank God they have it in leaky sub-surface tanks and not in a safe dedicated deep underground waste facility. Otherwise they wouldn’t know it was a problem.

morrie said:

wookiemeister said:

At least six underground tanks containing nuclear waste in the north-western US state of Washington are leaking, but a spokeswoman says there is no imminent threat to public health.

The US Energy Department told the state last week that one tank was leaking at the Hanford nuclear site.

But energy secretary Steven Chu informed its governor Jay Inslee on Friday that more leaks had been discovered.

“Secretary Chu let him know today that there are actually more tanks they’ve discovered leaking, at least six, possibly more,” Mr Inslee’s spokeswoman Jaime Smith told AFP.

“At this point we don’t believe that there’s any imminent threat to public health. Of course we’re concerned, because we don’t have any information yet about the extent of the leak or how long they’ve been going on.”

Asked for details of the leaking material, she said: “It’s nuclear waste. Different tanks have slightly different kinds of waste that they’re holding. We’re not clear yet on exactly what has been leaking for how long.”

The Hanford nuclear site in the south-west of the US state was used to produce plutonium for the bomb that brought an end to World War II.

Output grew after 1945 to meet the challenges of the Cold War, but the last reactor closed down in 1987. Its website says: “Weapons production processes left solid and liquid wastes that posed a risk to the local environment.”

It is the Western hemisphere’s most contaminated nuclear site, with 200 million litres of radioactive waste stored in aging tanks and billions of dollars a year invested in clean-up.

The ecological threat extends to the Columbia River, it added, noting that in 1989 US federal and Washington state authorities agreed on a deal to clean up the Hanford Site.

The Washington governor’s spokeswoman said they hoped for more information about the leaking tanks soon.

“The Department of Energy has committed to try and get us more information pretty quickly, hopefully within the next week or so. So we should have more information soon,” she said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-02-23/underground-tanks-leak-nuclear-waste-in-us/4535750

Thank God they have it in leaky sub-surface tanks and not in a safe dedicated deep underground waste facility. Otherwise they wouldn’t know it was a problem.

they could store some of that leaky stuff in those F-35s and finally find some use for them

burn more coal

nuclear fusion has been around for yonks i don’t know why they don’t just use that to provide all our power

People in the area worst affected by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident two years ago have a higher risk of developing certain cancers, the World Health Organisation (WHO) says.

A magnitude 9 earthquake and subsequent tsunami on March 11, 2011, killed nearly 19,000 people and devastated the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, triggering meltdowns, spewing radiation and forcing about 160,000 people to flee their homes.

In a statement, WHO director for public health and environment Doctor Maria Neira said the disaster brought with it higher risks of cancer.

“A breakdown of data, based on age, gender and proximity to the plant, does show a higher cancer risk for those located in the most contaminated parts,” she said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-02-28/cancer-risks-higher-in-worst-hit-fukushima-area3a-who/4546392

The nuclear accident at Fukushima last year was a “man-made disaster” and not only due to the tsunami, a Japanese parliamentary panel said in its final report on the catastrophe.

“Governments, regulatory authorities and Tokyo Electric Power lacked a sense of responsibility to protect people’s lives and society,” the Diet’s Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission said on Thursday.

“They effectively betrayed the nation’s right to be safe from nuclear accidents. Therefore, we conclude that the accident was clearly ‘man-made’,” it said.

The six-reactor nuclear plant was severley damaged after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami knocked out cooling systems to reactors, leading to meltdowns and the release of radioactivity.

“According to this commission’s study, on March 11, it is believed that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was in a vulnerable condition with no guarantee it could withstand earthquakes and tsunamis,” the report said.

The government and plant operator TEPCO have been unwilling to say the reactors could have been damaged by the initial earthquake.

An earlier report by TEPCO had all but cleared the huge utility, saying the size of the earthquake and tsunami was beyond all expectations and could not reasonably have been foreseen.

But the report of the commission said: “Despite having a number of opportunities to take measures, regulatory agencies and TEPCO management deliberately postponed decisions, did not take action or took decisions that were convenient for themselves.”

It also said that had the company had its way, its staff would have been evacuated from the crippled plant and the catastrophe could have spiralled even further out of control.

Slow response

The findings call for further investigation into the impact of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake – as opposed to the towering tsunami – on the reactors at Fukushima.

Giant waves crippled cooling equipment at the Fukushima plant, triggering meltdowns that spewed radioactivity and forced tens of thousands of residents to flee.

The commission said in the past that the Japanese government’s initial response was slow and inadequate because it was unprepared.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Imad Khadduri, nuclear scientist and author, said: “These are officials not scientists. They should have assembled a group of scientists and relied on them, but they didn’t. They stayed in their political jacket suits. Yes, there is a shortcoming in that.”

“But on the whole, if this kind of calamity has happened in any part of the world, I really doubt that the governments and the scientists in the other part of the world would be able to cope as the Japanese did.”

The commission, launched in December at the demand of opposition parties, was designed as an alternative to the administration’s investigation into the worst nuclear crisis in a generation.

Kiyoshi Kurokawa, the commission’s chairman, said he was confident that the commission had accomplished a “thorough investigation and verification” process during this time.

Kurokawa also said the report includes a new set of policy proposals that should be “steadily implemented step by step with consistent effort to reform”.

He stressed that it is the responsibility of Diet members to make sure the recommendations are followed.

The commission said it held over 900 hours of hearings and interviewed more than 1,100 people during the investigation.

Among those interviewed were Japan’s former Prime Minister Naoto Kan, former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, as well as key members from TEPCO.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2012/07/2012755496885199.html

Japan and Turkey have signed a deal to build a major nuclear power plant on Turkey’s Black Sea coast, a milestone for the Japanese nuclear industry as it recovers from the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

On Friday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed the $22 billion contract as a “very important step” that would transform bilateral relations with Japan into a “strategic partnership.”

A Japanese-French consortium won the giant contract to build Turkey’s second nuclear plant, Japan’s first successful bid on an overseas nuclear project since a tsunami wrecked the power station in Fukushima.

Turkey weathered criticism for teaming up with Japan in light of the catastrophe, but “despite that, we have taken this step,” Erdogan said.

“What happened at Fukushima upset all of us,” he said, adding that “successful steps are being taken now with the use of improved technology.”

Like Japan, Turkey lies in a part of the world that is prone to earthquakes, making it essential that nuclear plants are designed to resist the effects of such events.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who arrived in Turkey as part of a larger Middle Eastern tour, said that Japan had learnt important lessons from the 2011 catastrophe.

“Japan will share its experience and the lessons it has learnt and will contribute to the improvement of nuclear security at the highest level,” Abe said in comments translated into Turkish.

Abe and Erdogan also signed an agreement covering the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/05/20135473517628330.html

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-09/man-who-battled-fukushima-disaster-dies-of-cancer/4810000

The former boss of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant, who stayed at his post to try to tame runaway reactors after the 2011 tsunami, has died of cancer, the operator said.

TEPCO has said his cancer was unlikely to be linked to radiation exposure in the months after the disaster.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wookiemeister said:

TEPCO has said his cancer was unlikely to be linked to radiation exposure in the months after the disaster.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

.
And they’d be right, too.

Might have been radiation exposure years ago though.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-06/radioactive-water-leaking-into-pacific-ocean-in-new-fukushima-/4866860

Japan’s nuclear watchdog says there is a state of emergency at the shattered Fukushima nuclear plant over ongoing leaks of radioactive water.

An official from the Nuclear Regulation Authority says contaminated groundwater has risen above a shore barrier meant to contain it and is seeping into the Pacific Ocean.

Speaking to the Reuters news agency, Shinji Kinjo revealed the leak is exceeding legal limits of radioactive discharge.

Countermeasures planned by Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), the operator of the Fukushima nuclear complex, are only a temporary solution, Mr Kinjo added.

“Right now, we have an emergency,” he said.

TEPCO has been struggling to contain hundreds of tonnes of groundwater entering the plant everyday – water that quickly becomes contaminated.

But the company has also been roundly condemned for failing to make public leaks of radioactive water into the Pacific, despite knowing about it.

In the early weeks following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, the Japanese government allowed TEPCO to dump tens of thousands of tonnes of toxic water into the Pacific in an emergency move.

How do nuclear reactors work?

Nuclear power stations are a major source of energy for many countries around the world.

That prompted heavy criticism by neighbouring countries as well as local fishermen, and the company has since promised it would not dump irradiated water without the consent of local townships.

In a bid to prevent more leaks into the bay of the Pacific Ocean, plant workers created an underground barrier by injecting chemicals to harden the ground along the shoreline of one of the reactor buildings.

But that barrier is only effective in solidifying the ground at least 1.8 metres below the surface.

By breaching the barrier, the water can seep through the shallow areas of earth into the nearby sea.

More seriously, it is rising toward the surface – a break of which would accelerate the outflow.

The regulatory task force overseeing accident measures of the Fukushima station, which met last Friday, “concluded that new measures are needed to stop the water from flowing into the sea that way,” Mr Kinjo said.

The operator of Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant says it has found new radiation hotspots, one with levels so high it could kill a person within a few hours.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-01/an-new-radiation-hotspots-found-at-fukushima/4927684

wookiemeister said:

The operator of Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant says it has found new radiation hotspots, one with levels so high it could kill a person within a few hours.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-01/an-new-radiation-hotspots-found-at-fukushima/4927684

how do you lose 300 tonnes of anything?

‘Last week, the company admitted that 300 tonnes of highly radioactive water had seeped out of one of the tanks and could have leaked into the sea.’

wookiemeister said:

The operator of Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant says it has found new radiation hotspots, one with levels so high it could kill a person within a few hours.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-01/an-new-radiation-hotspots-found-at-fukushima/4927684

Nuclear power is safe.

party_pants said:

wookiemeister said:

The operator of Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant says it has found new radiation hotspots, one with levels so high it could kill a person within a few hours.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-01/an-new-radiation-hotspots-found-at-fukushima/4927684

Nuclear power is safe.

as long as nothing goes wrong

wookiemeister said:

party_pants said:

wookiemeister said:

The operator of Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant says it has found new radiation hotspots, one with levels so high it could kill a person within a few hours.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-01/an-new-radiation-hotspots-found-at-fukushima/4927684

Nuclear power is safe.

as long as nothing goes wrong

And even when it goes spectacularly wrong in the worst possible way imaginable, the death toll is less than a bad road accident.

Riff-in-Thyme said:

wookiemeister said:

The operator of Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant says it has found new radiation hotspots, one with levels so high it could kill a person within a few hours.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-01/an-new-radiation-hotspots-found-at-fukushima/4927684

how do you lose 300 tonnes of anything?

‘Last week, the company admitted that 300 tonnes of highly radioactive water had seeped out of one of the tanks and could have leaked into the sea.’

Hmm, my swimming pool contains about 75000 litres of water, so about 75 tonnes. In a very large industrial site losing four swimming pools of water doesn’t really amaze me. Not saying they shouldn’t have lost it, mind you, I’m just saying it really isn’t all that much.

Dropbear said:

wookiemeister said:

party_pants said:

Nuclear power is safe.

as long as nothing goes wrong

And even when it goes spectacularly wrong in the worst possible way imaginable, the death toll is less than a bad road accident.

yeah people just quietly die off after ingesting all this crap

wookiemeister said:

Dropbear said:

wookiemeister said:

as long as nothing goes wrong

And even when it goes spectacularly wrong in the worst possible way imaginable, the death toll is less than a bad road accident.

yeah people just quietly die off after ingesting all this crap

Except of course they don’t

Dropbear said:

wookiemeister said:

Dropbear said:

And even when it goes spectacularly wrong in the worst possible way imaginable, the death toll is less than a bad road accident.

yeah people just quietly die off after ingesting all this crap

Except of course they don’t

J. Frank Parnell: Ever been to Utah? Ra-di-a-tion. Yes, indeed. You hear the most outrageous lies about it. Half-baked goggle-box do-gooders telling everybody it’s bad for you. Pernicious nonsense. Everybody could stand a hundred chest X-rays a year. They ought to have them, too. When they canceled the project it almost did me in. One day my mind was full to bursting. The next day – nothing. Swept away. But I’ll show them. I had a lobotomy in the end.

Otto: Lobotomy? Isn’t that for loonies?

Parnell: Not at all. Friend of mine had one. Designer of the neutron bomb. You ever hear of the neutron bomb? Destroys people – leaves buildings standing. Fits in a suitcase. It’s so small, no one knows it’s there until – BLAMMO. Eyes melt, skin explodes, everybody dead. So immoral, working on the thing can drive you mad. That’s what happened to this friend of mine. So he had a lobotomy. Now he’s well again.

sibeen said:

Riff-in-Thyme said:

wookiemeister said:

The operator of Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant says it has found new radiation hotspots, one with levels so high it could kill a person within a few hours.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-01/an-new-radiation-hotspots-found-at-fukushima/4927684

how do you lose 300 tonnes of anything?

‘Last week, the company admitted that 300 tonnes of highly radioactive water had seeped out of one of the tanks and could have leaked into the sea.’

Hmm, my swimming pool contains about 75000 litres of water, so about 75 tonnes. In a very large industrial site losing four swimming pools of water doesn’t really amaze me. Not saying they shouldn’t have lost it, mind you, I’m just saying it really isn’t all that much.

I was just thinking the same thing. My pool is 35 tonnes (I am not an overpaid engineer type( or is that are our pools are the same size but yours is estimated by an engineer?)) and ten pools worth seemed quite small.

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2013/11/this-massive-steel-arch-will-entomb-chernobyls-reactor-4/

The BBC reports on the $US2 billion project to protect the decaying metal sarcophagus, using an even larger metal shield called the New Safe Confinement, or NSC. In simple terms, the NSC is a massive steel archway that is designed to protect the surrounding region if the 27-year-old sarcophagus eventually collapses. The design was proposed back in 1992 by a team of British engineers, but planning has taken more than a decade — the project is now halfway complete, with a target date of 2015 for final completion.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-07/spill-at-nt-uranium-mine-near-kakadu/5142148

Uranium mine spill near Jabiru, Northern Territory, locals fear for Kakadu National Park

Traditional owner groups said they are “sick with worry” about the potential environment impact, but ERA spokesman Tim Eckersley said there is no environmental emergency.

Inside Chernobyl 2: Eerie images show what is left of Japanese city abandoned after tsunami and Fukushima nuclear meltdown

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2623217/The-tale-two-disasters-Eerie-photos-left-Japanese-city-abandoned-tsunami-Fukushima-nuclear-disaster.html#ixzz31Ab0g332
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