| --- |
| title: "House Oversight: Estate Documents (Nov 12) (HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019414)" |
| source: "House Oversight: Estate Documents (Nov 12)" |
| sourceUrl: "https://www.justice.gov/epstein" |
| date: "2026-01-01" |
| category: "House Oversight" |
| eftaNumber: "HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019414" |
| ocrPages: 1 |
| ocrChars: 3983 |
| ocrElapsed: 0.0 |
| parseTier: "external-legacy" |
| engine: "engine undisclosed (ep-nov-12.greg.technology mirror)" |
| externalSource: "greg-ep-nov-12" |
| externalLicense: "not granted" |
| externalCredit: "ep-nov-12.greg.technology" |
| externalUrl: "https://ep-nov-12.greg.technology" |
| --- |
| |
| Energy - Full text articles |
| Nuclear Operator Raises Alarm on Crisis |
| Hiroko Tabuchi - New York Times |
| The operator of Japan's tsunami-hit nuclear power plant sounded the alarm on the gravity of the deepening crisis of |
| containment at the coastal site on Friday, saying that there are more than 200,000 tons of radioactive water in makeshift |
| tanks vulnerable to leaks, with no reliable way to check on them or anywhere to transfer the water. |
| The latest disclosures add to a long list of recent accidents, leaks and breakdowns that have underscored grave |
| vulnerabilities at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant site more than two years after a powerful earthquake and |
| tsunami set off meltdowns at three reactors. |
| They come two weeks after the prime minister, Shinzo Abe, promised that his government would take a more active role in |
| the site's cleanup, raising questions over how seriously he has taken that pledge. Mr. Abe's government has continued to |
| push for a restart of the country's nuclear power program, and he heads to the Middle East on Saturday to promote |
| Japanese exports to the region, including nuclear technology. |
| Mr. Abe also plans to lead Tokyo's delegation to Argentina for the International Olympic Committee's final vote, set for Sept. |
| 7, on the host city for the 2020 Olympics. Tokyo, 150 miles south of the stricken nuclear power plant, is one of three finalists |
| competing to host the games. The others are Istanbul and Madrid. |
| Opposition lawmakers here have demanded that Mr. Abe stay home and declare a state of emergency. |
| "The nuclear crisis is real and ongoing, yet the government continues to look the other way," said Yoshiko Kira of the |
| opposition Japan Communist Party, which made significant gains in parliamentary elections last month. |
| "The government should declare a state of emergency right now, and intervene to stop the outflow of contaminated water," |
| Ms. Kira said at an anti-nuclear rally outside Mr. Abe's office in Tokyo. |
| Mr. Abe remains popular, and it is uncertain how large a liability the crisis at the Fukushima plant will become for him. |
| But it has become increasingly clear that the latest problems may be too large for the plant's operator, the Tokyo Electric |
| Power Company, or Tepco, to handle. |
| Tepco has built nearly 1,000 tanks at the sprawling complex to store as many as 335,000 tons of contaminated water, the |
| product of coolant pumped into the reactors to keep their cores from overheating, and groundwater pouring into their |
| breached basements at a rate of 400 tons a day. This week, Tepco said one tank had sprung a huge leak. |
| On Friday, Tepco presented an even starker view of the situation, acknowledging that as much as 220,000 tons of that water |
| is stored in makeshift steel tanks similar to the one that is leaking. The operator said the 36-foot-tall cylindrical tanks, meant |
| as a temporary repository for the growing amount of radiated water at the complex, used vulnerable rubber sealing and that |
| their ability to withstand radiation was not tested. |
| The tanks are susceptible to leaks at the seams and through their concrete base, said Noriyuki Imaizumi, the acting general |
| manager of Tepco's nuclear power division. A nearby drain can carry any leaked water to the sea, Mr. Imaizumi said, and |
| high radiation readings along a section suggest that water has already traveled through the drain to the ocean. |
| The makeshift tanks also lack water level gauges, making it difficult to detect leaks. Only two workers are assigned to |
| checking nearly 1,000 tanks on two-hour patrols twice a day, Mr. Imaizumi said. |
| The Nuclear Regulation Authority, which the Japanese government ordered to more actively advise and monitor Tepco's |
| activities at the plant, had told the company to begin transferring the water from the makeshift tanks to better-built vessels. |
| But after visiting the plant on Friday, an authority commissioner, Toyoshi Fuketa, said the vast quantities made doing so |
| quickly "unrealistic." |
| HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019414 |
|
|
