The last week saw a switchyard fire and a small chemical leak at Fukushima Daiichi, as well as a new analysis of radioactive contamination in fish.
Recent developments at the Tokyo Electric Power Co. nuclear plant blacked out by last year's tsunami in Japan include:
Fire Extinguished in Disused Switchyard
At about 11 a.m. Oct. 19, a patrolling TEPCO worker found a fire in the unused switchyard of units 1 and 2. According to a TEPCO release, the fire burned 680 square meters, and it was extinguished by the worker soon after it was discovered. The fire department later confirmed the blaze was out, and TEPCO said the incident did not affect conditions at the plant.
Acid Leak Found in Desalination System
About 75 liters of a hydrochloric acid solution leaked from equipment used to desalinate water at the unit 3 spent fuel pool, TEPCO reported. Workers found the leak in the mobile desalination system after an alarm Wednesday morning. According to a TEPCO release, " At around 6:15 a.m., yellowish liquid was found to be accumulated in the drain pan located in the lower part of the system, which was placed on the back of a truck." The liquid – confined to the pan and no longer leaking by the time it was found – was tested, and the cause of the leak was being investigated.
Study: Contaminant Levels in Fish Low but Persistent
In today's issue of the journal Science, a study by a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution chemist analyzed data on radionuclides from 9,000 samples of marine life collected by the Japanese government. It found that the vast majority of fish caught off Japan's northeast coast showed levels of radioactive contaminants like cesium at levels below the limits for consumption set by the Japanese government. According to a Woods Hole release, the highest levels of cesium were found in bottom-dwelling fish caught off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture. Overall, the data did not indicate a decline in the amount of contamination found in fish since the accidents, and the paper posited that radionuclides may still be entering the water from the plant or from contaminated sediment on the seafloor.