Radiation in Tokyo: It's Already a Secondary Radiation Contamination in Koto-Ku

[Barrett808]

So the Tokyo Metropolitan government finally admitted to the high air radiation level in "Nanbu Sludge Plant" in Ota-ku in Tokyo, after, it turns out, a Tokyo Metropolitan Assemblyman from Ota-ku went inside the plant and measured the radiation.

"Tobu" or Eastern, Sludge Plant in Koto-ku in Tokyo has an even higher level of radioactive cesium, and the plant may have been spewing radioactive cesium from the incinerator where the radioactive sewage sludge is burned, and has been contaminating the air and the soil in the areas around the plant and downwind (upstream) areas along the Arakawa River.

So it's a secondary radiation contamination.

The eastern part of Tokyo has been registering higher air radiation levels than the western part of Tokyo. Unchecked cesium dispersion from the sludge plant ever since the start of the Fukushima I Nuke Plant accident may be good part of the reason.

#Radiation in Tokyo: It's Already a Secondary Radiation Contamination in Koto-Ku

[meow mix]

1. an assemblyman had to go in and check for himself.

wtf.. nuke industry = fail

[kristopher]

2. I'd like to know where the sewage is being collected from.

[Fledermaus]

3. How did it get there? Did it wash off peoples clothes or was it consumed in their food????.

Who knows?!?!?!?!?

[FBaggins]

4. It's a sewage treatment plant. How does sewage normally get there?

It's mostly runoff.

[Fledermaus]

5. Where's the corium now?

[hunter]

6. This makes me wonder what else is in that sludge.

Radioactive toxins say "Hello! Here I am!" Other toxins require more complex lab work and in some cases one has to know what one is looking for.

[FBaggins]

7. But that's a normal concern with sewage treatment plants

You've got runoff from miles and miles around that all gets condensed down to a tiny fraction of the original volume. So they deal with contamination all the time (it's part of why they exist). The incineration process takes care of most of that...

...but you can't "burn off" radioactivity.

[kristopher]

8. "The incineration process takes care of most of that"

What are you basing that on? Is incineration of sewage waste an industry standard? If it is, what particular incineration process is most commonly being used?

[FBaggins]

9. Incineration is a pretty common treatment, though not the MOST common.

It does appear to be how the plants in Japan that have made the news handle it.

There may be other processes at plants that didn't make the news... but since it results in such a tiny remaining volume (thus the most concentrated), I would expect this type of treatment to show the highest cesium levels. So I don't know whether this is the most prevalent option in Japan or just the one we're reading about because they're the ones that they're finding the cesium in.

[kristopher]

10. That isn't what you wrote...

Hunter: This makes me wonder what else is in that sludge. Radioactive toxins say "Hello! Here I am!" Other toxins require more complex lab work and in some cases one has to know what one is looking for.

Baggins: But that's a normal concern with sewage treatment plants. You've got runoff from miles and miles around that all gets condensed down to a tiny fraction of the original volume. So they deal with contamination all the time (it's part of why they exist). The incineration process takes care of most of that...

When challenged about your claim you wrote:

Baggins: Incineration is a pretty common treatment, though not the MOST common. It does appear to be how the plants in Japan that have made the news handle it. There may be other processes at plants that didn't make the news... but since it results in such a tiny remaining volume (thus the most concentrated), I would expect this type of treatment to show the highest cesium levels. So I don't know whether this is the most prevalent option in Japan or just the one we're reading about because they're the ones that they're finding the cesium in.


In other words, you didn't (don't) have a clue about what is common or normal; you are just making things up.

[FBaggins]

11. What on earth are you talking about?

It is how it's handled at the plants in question.

Have you never even heard of "context"?

[Fledermaus]

12. Sewage treatment plants don't treat runoff from the streets and what not.

They treat what goes down the drain or toilet.

[FBaggins]

13. Large portions of Japan are on combined sewers.

Including over 80% of Tokyo.

Best you avoid sweeping generalities on things you don't understand and stick to "Where's the corium now?!?" :)

[kristopher]

14. Please substantiate that claim.

We've seen above you are making things up, so asking you to provide a basis for your claim seems called for.

[FBaggins]

15. At what point do you begin to reciprocate?

Just wondering.

http://www.metro.tokyo.jp/ENGLISH/PROFILE/policy14.htm

"82% of the ward area is served by combined sewer systems in which wastewater and storm water are channeled through the same sewer line. This results in problems arising during times of heavy rainfall, with some of the wastewater diluted by storm water flowing out to the rivers and sea."

And exactly where above did I make something up?

[kristopher]

16. That certainly isn't the system you descrtibed, is it?

The contribution of overflow from heavy rains does in Tokyo just what it does everywhere else, it overloads the system and causes the release of raw, untreated sewage into waterways and oceans.

You are making this up as you go along, but now you've at least been pushed into actually learning something.

[FBaggins]

17. Yes actually... it is

The contribution of overflow from heavy rains

Is not relevant to the discussion. It's an interesting fact, but the second sentence just added color. It's the first sentence that documents that the bulk of Tokyo's sewer system is a combined sewer. If you don't understand what that means, take the time to look it up before you make yourself look even more foolish.

OR, you might just remember that this isn't the first time that we've read about waste treatment facilities with high cesium levels in the ash/sludge. There were reports from the area around Fukushima a few weeks back with very high levels. At the time they said it was from recent rainfall runoff flushinng the contamination to the treatment facility.