Fukashima Radiation Levels

Jan. 2014
Radiation levels leaking out of Fukushima are still present, but have decreased from what they were last year in 2013. Still there is an increasing high level of radiation in the harbor. Officials are attempting to locate and contain the source of the pollution.

Despite efforts, containment of the nuclear waste has been makeshift. Radiation from the water used to cool the plant’s spent fuel rods has been stored away in tanks around the plant. In October of 2013 a tank holding contaminated water was found leaking over 300 tons of toxic water into the environment every day since the event. TEPCO only acknowledged the problem a month later. Several other tanks are also suspected to be releasing nuclear waste into the water.

Officials acknowledge that forms of containment are unconventional. Nuclear disasters of this scale happen so infrequently that there is no plan for containment of a contamination of this size in the worst-case scenario. Even skilled nuclear technicians are reaching the recommended exposure limits and unskilled workers may need to be brought in to work on containing the nuclear waste, as efforts to contain the problem are spreading thin.

Still the disaster has inspired some to rethink how nuclear power plants are designed. Water sealed doors have been proposed and others think that power generators should be placed near the top of the facility. The changes would reduce damage done to power plants from floods and tsunamis, allowing for greater damage control in the event another Fukushima occurs.