Endless Radiation Leaks At Fukushima, Food Exports, Cancer Rise

http://bit.ly/1ue8Dre TEPCO CHECKING TANKS FOR LEAKS Inspectors at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power plant are checking for leaks in about 350 water-storage tanks. Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company found Monday that one tank had leaked more than 300 tons of highly radioactive water. They fear the contaminated water is seeping via a drainage system into the sea. Personnel on Wednesday night finished transferring the remaining 700 tons of water to another tank. They are now examining the tank to identify the source of the leak. But they can only start a full investigation next week due to the high radiation level inside the tank. So the TEPCO workers have turned their attention to about 350 tanks of the same kind. The tanks are made from steel plates bolted together rather than welded. TEPCO operatives are carrying out visual inspections and measuring radiation levels around the tanks. They plan to finish the work as early as Friday. Aug. 22, 2013 - Updated 06:54 UTC IAEA: WATER LEAKS AT FUKUSHIMA 'SERIOUS' The International Atomic Energy Agency says it views the situation at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant as serious and is ready to provide assistance upon request. The world nuclear watchdog issued a statement on Wednesday in connection with a leak of about 300 tons of highly radioactive water that was found on Monday. It says Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority is considering raising the severity rating of the plant condition by two notches from its initial assessment to level 3, due to the latest water leak. It added that Japanese authorities continue providing the agency with information on the latest developments and that IAEA experts are watching the situation closely. The IAEA made a similar announcement regarding separate water leaks on the 9th of this month but it did not use the word "serious" in that statement. Aug. 21, 2013 - Updated 12:49 UTC TEPCO: LARGEST EVER TANK LEAK SINCE CRISIS The operator of the disabled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says a leak of 300 tons of contaminated water from a tank there is the largest since the 2011 crisis. Tokyo Electric Power Company said on Tuesday that the water leaked from one of 11 meter-high tanks installed on the hill side of the plant's reactors, about 500 meters from the ocean. The tank belongs to a group of 26 surrounded by a 30-centimeter-high concrete barrier. Each is designed to hold 1,000 tons of water. Tokyo Electric officials say the tank leaked about 300 tons of water, but that most of it stayed inside the barrier. The tanks are made of steel sheets bolted together. But others with the same structure have leaked a number of times where the sheets are joined. The operator says workers check the bolts twice a day. The barrier did not work as expected, as pipes attached to it were left open to drain rainwater. The firm says it plans to review the method. Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority has assessed the problem as a level 1 incident, the 2nd-lowest on an 8-point international scale. It has instructed the firm to quickly identify the cause and clean up soil that has absorbed water. Aug. 20, 2013 - Updated 08:31 UTC NUCLEAR REGULATORS ASK TEPCO TO INVESTIGATE Japan's nuclear regulator has ordered the operator of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant to determine whether the radioactive water that leaked from a storage tank is entering the sea through a drainage pipe. The Nuclear Regulation Authority issued the instruction to Tokyo Electric Power Company after agency inspectors found INCREASED RADIATION LEVELS IN SAND BAGS SET UP NEAR A DRAINAGE PIPE LEADING TO THE OCEAN. The inspectors have so far found no abnormal rise in levels of radiation inside the pipe. The deputy head of the nuclear regulator, Hideka Morimoto, told a news conference the agency is not ruling out the possibility that the contaminated water is seeping into the ocean through the pipe. Aug. 20, 2013 - Updated 09:39 UTC