Nuclear Containments Are Designed To Protect Public Health By Containing Radiation

Hi, I’m Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds.

Nuclear containment systems were designed and built as the last line of defense to protect the public from radiation releases. During the first week of the triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi site, it was obvious that all the General Electric (GE) Mark 1 Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) containment systems failed to operate as designed because they did not contain radiation. Since the Fukushima Daiichi tragedy occurred almost three years ago, Fairewinds Energy Education has discussed the issue of containment failure many times. For a detailed explanation of the Fukushima Daiichi containment failures, please see my March 11, 2013 video presentation at the New York Academy of Medicine. Two weeks ago, TEPCO released some strange data claiming that they had discovered a new leak in the containment system at Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3.

First, what do we know about this leak from TEPCO’s information update? 1. TEPCO stated that a robot inside Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3 detected a water leak.

The water viewed on the robotic camera was a stream about a foot wide that was running across the floor in Unit 3.

When the leak was first discovered, TEPCO claimed it was rainwater.

TEPCO then measured the temperature of the water at 20ºC or 68ºF, and because the air was 7ºC or 42ºF, the water, which was more than 20ºF hotter, obviously could not be rainwater.

Next, TEPCO measured the water’s radioactivity level, and discovered that the water stream was highly radioactive.

TEPCO now believes this could not be rainwater, simply because it is warm and highly radioactive. Let’s be clear about the technical forensics here.

Temperature is not a reliable litmus test for that stream of water. Rainwater could have fallen and risen in temperature due to contact with hot surfaces.

The same is true with radioactive content – since Unit 3 had radioactive material explode far and wide, and because TEPCO has yet to begin to cleanup the radioactive debris inside containment, the rainwater could have picked up radioactive contamination that has spread throughout Unit 3’s containment system.

In nuclear power plant operations, any pathway for rainwater to get inside a nuclear reactor is also a pathway for significant amounts of radioactivity to leak outside into the surrounding water and air.

The news release by TEPCO that rainwater could be leaking inside Unit 3 is a clear admission that that the Unit 3 containment system is compromised and leaking radioactivity into the surrounding water and air. 2. Second, because the stream was warm and radioactive, the water leaking in Unit 3 either came in contact with radioactive debris spread throughout Unit 3 or it is the leakage of the water that cools the nuclear core within the reactor itself.

Remember, even now, almost 3 years after the Fukushima Daiichi triple meltdown, TEPCO is adding about 4 tons of water every hour into the Unit 3’s containment system and into what remains of the nuclear reactor core to keep that nuclear fuel cool because highly radioactive and physically hot nuclear fission products remain from the chain reaction 3 years ago. 3. Third, clearly there are even more problems with TEPCO’s analysis of this Unit 3 leak

Where did this leaking water come from?

TEPCO claims that the leak is flowing from a room that contains the Main Steam Isolation Valves. These are huge valves designed to close after the accident.

It is impossible for water that cooled the nuclear reactor to leak from this location. o Let’s look at a sketch of the Mark 1 BWR containment system to determine why.

The containment is inside a box-like building called the reactor building.

This is the same reactor building that exploded in Unit 3 shortly after the triple meltdown began at the Fukushima Daiichi site.

Inside that box-like building is the containment system that looks like an upside down light bulb and donut.

The containment system began to leak as hydrogen gas increased the pressure and the bolts began to stretch. You will see this in the graphic Fairewinds Energy Education developed in 2011 to describe this phenomenon.

The containment system, meant to protect the public, was breached and gases leaked out and into the surrounding environment within three days of the Fukushima catastrophe.

Next, the seals around the electrical wires and pipes that enter the containment also failed. These seals are made of rubber and plastic and were not designed or fabricated to withstand high temperatures, high pressures or to be in contact with saltwater from the ocean used to keep the core cool as the accident progressed.

Moreover, the failure of the rubber and plastic seals is facilitating the leakage of radioactive water into the surrounding groundwater and environment. 4. Finally, the nuclear core has melted through the thick steel reactor and the reactor coolant pump seals also failed so that whatever water reaches the reactor leaks out onto the floor and never even reaches the main steam piping as TEPCO claims.

Now these leaking seals in the containment system are what is establishing the water level inside. The 4 tons per hour is pumped in and leaks out.

Lets look at a graphic that compares the location of the leak with the water level inside the containment. This drawing shows that the water level inside the containment system is much lower than where TEPCO claims the newly found leak originates, and we all know that water does not flow uphill.

Even more perplexing is the fact that the radioactivity in the leaking water is 100 times less radioactive than the water normally found in the basement, but it is 100 times more radioactive than the water currently being injected to cool the molten remains of reactor core. So the question is: what is really happening at Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3? Since there are so many variables, Fairewinds will not speculate on the source of that water leakage, today, but the data shows us that TEPCO does not know the source and was only guessing that it might be rainwater. For me and the other nuclear engineers with whom I consult, this is not a good sign for the Fukushima Daiichi site, its surrounding environment or the people of Japan because it proves once again that TEPCO is not in control of the situation at severely contaminated Fukushima Daiichi site. We can conclude that TEPCO does not know:

If cooling water on its way to the reactor got sidetracked onto the floor, • Or if warmed water leaked onto the floor after cooling the reactor.

Or if the water came from inside the containment or if it came from outside the containment. Three years after the worst industrial catastrophe in the history of the world, TEPCO and the Japanese government still do not have control of the site and the radiological effluents contaminating the surrounding water table, the nearby ocean, or escaping into the air and blowing in the wind. A colleague said that in CSI Fukushima, if there was such a TV show, technicians would collect and analyze samples of water from the Unit 3 floor and from all the process pipes, holding tanks, and vats. The radiological and chemical analysis of these water samples would eliminate many possibilities and sharpen the focus on the real culprit of the extensive leakage, just like blood typing and DNA tests are performed to target criminals. I agree with my colleague, TEPCO must think more like CSI Fukushima and less like a bystander in this catastrophe that they and General Electric created by building and operating these Mark 1 BWR nukes. I’m Arnie Gundersen, and I’ll keep you informed.