2018 Fukushima Updates

October 18th: Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant owner apologizes for still-radioactive water

TEPCO has admitted that the water treated at Fukushima still contains extremely dangerous levels of radioactive materials. For years, TEPCO has insisted its "purification" process removed strontium and 61 other radioactive elements, leaving only tritium behind. Radioactive readings of strontium-90 were detected at 600,000 becquerels per liter in some tanks, 20,000 times the legal limit. The nearly one million tonnes of stored water is enough to fill about 500 Olympic-size swimming pools.

February 17th: Media reports de-romanticize the cleanup work on the Fukushima nuclear power plant 

Cleanup workers at the Fukushima Daiichi plant are coming forward to reveal they are often being cheated out of the proper compensation they were promised for the hazardous work they are doing. Contractors advertise high wages to attract workers, but then subtract things like room and board, utility fees, clothing and equipment.There can be up to six layers of contractors between Tepco and a worker, and each layer may take a cut of the compensation. In most cases the compensation has been reduced, sometimes by more than half

February 1st: Lethal radiation detected at Fukushima plant

Data from a recent TEPCO probe into Unit 2 has revealed lethal levels of radiation. Near the containment vessel, the radiation levels were 8 Sieverts/Hour, which would be a lethal dose to a human after 1 hour of exposure.  Near the foundations of the reactor, the probe measured as high as 42 Sieverts/Hour.

January 30th: TEPCO refused to run Tsunami computer nine years before Fukushima

It has just come to light that in 2002, TEPCO was ordered by the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA), Japan's nuclear watchdog organization, to complete a computer simulation of a powerful tsunami hitting the nuclear plant and the effects that would have on the reactors and the surrounding area. TEPCO ignored the order saying “it would take substantial time and expense to carry out a simulation,” despite a report at the time finding that a major tsunami could hit somewhere along the coastal areas from Tohoku to Chiba Prefecture, with a probability of 20 percent over the next 30 years. Then In the spring of 2008, TEPCO conducted a simulation and concluded that tsunami as high as 15.7 meters could hit the Fukushima plant, but they still refused to take action, saying the simulation was based on a hypothetical scenario and that there was no evidence suggesting such powerful tsunami would actually engulf the Tohoku region. 

January 7th: TEPCO to resume probe inside Fukushima No. 2 reactor on Friday

TEPCO aims to continue its investigation inside the No. 2 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear power plant. A 13 meter long pipe will be inserted into the bottom of the pressure vessel and a camera will be deployed through the pipe to find the the melted fuel. Radiation and temperature measurements will also be taken