Status as of 4/21/2011

6 weeks after the people evacuated for the tsunami warning, the Japanese government is hardening it’s stance on entry into the evacuated area because residents have been making unauthorized forays to their homes.  This exposes them to radiation and raises the potential for spreading radioactive contamination.  Since many households evacuated for the tsunami with only the clothes on their back and will not be able to return for several months, the government is allowing one person from each household a trip to retrieve valuables and important documents.  The population in the 12 mile evacuation zone was 78,200.  The 12 to 18 mile zone population was 62,400. Prior to cleaning up the evacuation zone the Daiichi Units 1, 2, and 3 will need to be on a closed cooling loop and structures in place which contain the atmospheric releases otherwise they risk recontaminating the area.  Because the evacuation zone has been contaminated with isotopes such as cesium, cleanup will consist of surveying soil, excavated contaminated areas, and transporting it to special landfills.  The longer it takes to begin the cleanup, the deeper the radioactive isotopes will leach into the ground.

450 tons of water has been pumped from the Unit 2 tunnel into the waste water facility lowering the level in the tunnel by 3 cm.  Radioactive water has been collecting in a Unit 3 tunnel, rising several centimeters a day.  It will soon reach one meter below ground level.  Also rising water levels in the Unit 5 and 6 turbine buildings are being monitored but is thought to be ground water. 

A Japanese official reported they are looking for ways to shore up the structure below the Unit 4 spent fuel pool to prevent it from collapsing.  The structure may have been weakened from the earthquake and subsequent hydrogen explosions.  Based on the amount of water which has been injected into the pool, we suspect some leakage was occurring.  If aftershocks are weakening the structure and the additional weight of debris cause a massive leak to occur, the scenario of exposing the 1331 spent fuel assemblies to air would be a major setback for stabilizing and cleaning up Daiichi because of the resulting high radiation levels.