A fourth worker at Fukushima Daiichi has died following a heart condition this week deemed unrelated to radiation. Other recent news from the plant damaged by last March’s tsunami and power blackout include a small earthquake nearby and more leaks in water treatment equipment.
Developments over the last week include:
Worker Dies
Tokyo Electric Power Co. reported that a contractor’s employee working on concrete at the new Spent Sludge Storage Facility was taken to a hospital Monday afternoon suffering from cardiopulmonary arrest. He later died, and TEPCO said tests detected no radioactive material on his body. Japan Today reported the worker was in his sixties.
Another Earthquake Hits Eastern Japan
The plant remained in stable condition following a 5.7 magnitude earthquake Thursday. Agence France Presse reported the quake was centered in the ocean 14 miles east of Iwaki in Fukushima prefecture. There were no immediate reports of damage or a tsunami.
TEPCO Fixes Leaks in Multiple Water Systems
TEPCO discovered and fixed three leaks last week among its various systems to treat radioactive water at the plant. On Sunday crews found purified water leaking from an air fin cooler in the system that circulates water in the spent fuel tank of unit 4. On Monday workers found about three gallons of water had leaked near an evaporative concentration apparatus from a condenser spray line that handles treated water used to cool the reactors. And on Tuesday workers found a leak of similar size at the bottom of a tank in the desalination system.
Crews inspecting turbine equipment in the unit discovered minor damage caused by the March 2011 earthquake. Source: TEPCO.