Only 26-meter tsunami could now damage Fukushima – (TEPCO)

The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant has raised the tsunami projectile height, saying it would take a 26-meter wave to damage the facility and cause radioactive leakage, local media reported. This comes as Japan faces a typhoon threat.

Officials from the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) have nearly doubled the previous projected tsunami height that would inundate the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant – raising it from 14 to 26.3 meters, Asahi Shimbun reported on Saturday.

The flood caused by such a tsunami would “likely cause seawater to mingle with the radiation-tainted water accumulating in the basements of the reactor buildings at the six-unit plant, allowing 100 trillion becquerels of cesium to escape,” The Japan Times reported, citing TEPCO officials.

• However, TEPCO officials noted that such a strong tsunami occurs only once every 10,000 to 100,000 years.

The operator also increased the scale of a potential earthquake that would damage the plant by 1.5 times to 900 gals, media reported.

The company’s statement made on Friday comes in response to a demand made by Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) for the operator to review tsunami counter-measures. The authority is to decide whether TEPCO’s figures are suitable.

Following the March 2011 earthquake that triggered a 15.5 meter tsunami and hit the Fukushima Daiichi plant – causing three nuclear core meltdowns – the NRA obliged other facilities to strengthen tsunami counter-measures and raise the scale of the highest tsunami protection. But the new regulation did not apply to Fukushima, which is over 40 years old, as the plant was to be decommissioned.

As a measure to reduce the impact of a potential hit by a huge seismic wave, TEPCO said it will cut the quantity of radioactive water stored on the premises of the facility. Thus, the amount of radioactive water leaked into the ocean would be reduced by 30 percent, Asahi reported.

In the wake of the 2011 tragedy, Japan shut down all its nuclear reactors. However, the Japanese government has been keen on the nuclear restart, insisting that the reactors are necessary to provide cheaper energy to the economically-challenged Asian nation.............Will Typhoon Phanfone affect Fukushima?........http://rt.com/news/193364-tsunami-damage-fukushima-tepco/
5/10/14
--
-
Related:

• Fukushima To Be Hit By Typhoon, Causing Ocean Contamination (Tepco)

• Fukushima No. 1 at risk of 26-meter tsunami: Tepco...