Global Security Newswire

Personnel on Tuesday were installing sand and concrete barricades in a final bid to prevent highly radioactive water from pouring into the ground and ocean outside Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the Los Angeles Times reported (see GSN, March 28).

Workers also continued delivering water to reactors and spent fuel cooling ponds in an attempt to avert further releases of radioactive material from overheating components at the six-reactor facility, which was crippled by the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and devastating tsunami that hit Japan on March 11. The confirmed death toll from the events now exceeds 10,000 people.

Spray from water hoses and potential ruptured reactors or leaking cooling pools were possible sources of contaminated water flooding portions of the facility, according to Japanese and U.S. atomic sector specialists. Officials were assessing possible means of draining and safely holding the radioactive fluid, but development of a safe removal process could require weeks, analysts said.

Failure to address the water's source might result in continued overflow into turbine areas at the plant. Contaminated water was collecting in four of the plant's six turbine areas, according to a Monday report (Makinen/Vartabedian, Los Angeles Times, March 29).

Plutonium has been detected in soil at the site. Radioactive water might still be entering the nearby Pacific Ocean, but no ongoing stream had developed, Reuters quoted a source with plant operator Tokyo Electric Power as saying (Nomiyama/Takada, Reuters I, March 29).

Personnel were preparing tanks for holding contaminated water, but containers could be close to full, the New York Times on Tuesday quoted Tokyo Electric Power as saying. One 750-gallon container was filled at the plant's No. 3 reactor, and a lower-capacity holding unit was more than 50 percent full (Hiroko Tabuchi, New York Times, March 29).

Still, authorities planned to continue transferring additional water into the facility, Reuters on Tuesday quoted Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano as saying.

"We must avoid a situation in which the temperature (of fuel rods) rises and the water boils off," he said. "So this cooling is a priority. On the other hand, on the standing water, under the circumstances work must continue to remove it as quickly as possible" (Nomiyama/Takada, Reuters II, March 29).

Pumping of radiation-tainted water from the No. 1 reactor's turbine area to its main condenser was under way, the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Monday, referring to Japanese government updates. A filled steam condenser was preventing a similar measure at the No. 2 reactor, while authorities were reviewing possible destinations for water transferred from the No. 3 reactor. A potential water transfer from the No. 4 reactor was also under review (International Atomic Energy Agency release, March 29).

Concerns over radiation-tainted water prompted Japan to suspend the collection of rainwater for contribution to public supplies, Kyodo News quoted government sources as saying on Sunday. Water purification sites were asked to cover water pools with tarps to block rainwater, or to treat water for radioactive contaminants using activated carbon (Kyodo News/Japan Times, March 29).

Plutonium found in soil near the facility suggests fuel had melted in one or more of its reactors, the Times quoted Edano as saying (Tabuchi, New York Times). The lethal element turned up in two of five soil samples taken near the plant, according to the U.N. nuclear watchdog (International Atomic Energy Agency release).

“There is a high possibility that there has been at least some melting of the fuel rods,” Edano said (Tabuchi, New York Times).

"Plutonium is a substance that's emitted when the temperature is high, and it's also heavy and so does not leak out easily," Reuters quoted Japanese Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency Deputy Director Hidehiko Nishiyama as saying.

"So if plutonium has emerged from the reactor, that tells us something about the damage to the fuel. And if it has breached the original containment system, it underlines the gravity and seriousness of this accident," Nishiyama said (Nomiyama/Takada, Reuters I).

Fuel rods at the plant's No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 reactors were not fully submerged and were believed to have partially melted, the London Guardian reported (Ian Sample, London Guardian, March 28).

Sensors at 12 sites throughout the United States have detected low levels of radioactive particles thought to have originated from the Japanese plant, Reuters quoted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as saying on Monday. Some of the detected radiation levels have risen slightly since last week, but they remained low alongside radiation occurring in nature.

"These types of findings are to be expected in the coming days and are still far below levels of public health concern," an EPA press release states (Timothy Gardner, Reuters III, March 28).

Small amounts of radioactive material linked to the Japanese site has been identified in no fewer than 15 U.S. states, USA Today reported (Judy Keen, USA Today, March 29).

South Korea on Tuesday indicated it had detected small amounts of radioactive iodine in Seoul and elsewhere within its borders, the Yonhap News Agency reported (Yonhap News Agency I/Korea Herald, March 29). Radioactive xenon 133 turned up in South Korea's northeastern Gangwan province (Yonhap News Agency II, March 28).

A detection unit at Glasgow in Scotland detected low-level radioactive iodine, the Press Association on Tuesday quoted the Scottish Environment Protection Agency as saying (Press Association/London Independent, March 29).

Meanwhile, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano called on Monday for an international study of the Fukushima Daiichi disaster once the situation is under control, his agency indicated (International Atomic Energy Agency release).