ID :
168552
Wed, 03/16/2011 - 07:17
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Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/168552
The shortlink copeid
High Levels of Radiation Detected a`t Fukushima Reactor Building
Tokyo (Jiji Press) - Tokyo Electric Power Co. <9501> said Tuesday that high levels of radiation detected near the containment building for the No. 3 reactor at the firm's quake-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan are highly likely to have stemmed from part of debris of the building for the plant's No. 4 reactor and water from the reactor's spent fuel rod storage pool.
Radiation levels near the No. 3 reactor building briefly rose to as high as 400 millisieverts per hour, far higher than 2,400 microsieverts per hour, the amount that an average person is naturally exposed to during a year. One microsievert is a 1,000th of a millisievert.
An explosion and a fire occurred at the No. 4 reactor building Tuesday morning, and part of the building was damaged.
The level of radiation around the Fukushima No. 1 plant stood at 11,930 microsieverts per hour at 9 a.m. Tuesday (midnight Monday GMT) and fell to 596.4 microsieverts as of 3:30 p.m., according to officials of the company.
The plant was hit by the devastating 9.0-magnitude earthquake that occurred in northern and eastern Japan on Friday.
Tokyo Electric Power also said that two large holes, both about 8 meters in circumference, were found in the northwestern wall of the No. 4 reactor building.
According to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, work to pump sea water into the power plant's No. 1, 2 and 3 reactors is continuing to cool them.
But water levels have not risen sufficiently. This suggests that water may be leaking, the Tokyo Electric Power officials said.
The No. 4 reactor building contains an 8-meter-deep pool to store spent fuel rods. Currently, 783 spent fuel rods are in the pool.
In early Monday morning, the temperature in the pool surged to 84 degrees Celsius from the normal level of 40 degrees.
Tokyo Electric Power on Tuesday reported to the central and Fukushima prefectural governments that about 70 pct of the fuel rods of the No. 1 reactor is seen to have been damaged. For the No. 2 reactor, 33 pct of the fuel rods might have been damaged, it said.
Cracks and holes have been found on the reactors' cladding tubes that cover the nuclear fuel and prevent radioactive substances from being released outside, because they were damaged after overheating due to a loss of cooling water inside the reactors, according to the company.
But the tubes were not completely damaged, and the uranium fuel is unlikely to melt, the company said.
Radiation levels near the No. 3 reactor building briefly rose to as high as 400 millisieverts per hour, far higher than 2,400 microsieverts per hour, the amount that an average person is naturally exposed to during a year. One microsievert is a 1,000th of a millisievert.
An explosion and a fire occurred at the No. 4 reactor building Tuesday morning, and part of the building was damaged.
The level of radiation around the Fukushima No. 1 plant stood at 11,930 microsieverts per hour at 9 a.m. Tuesday (midnight Monday GMT) and fell to 596.4 microsieverts as of 3:30 p.m., according to officials of the company.
The plant was hit by the devastating 9.0-magnitude earthquake that occurred in northern and eastern Japan on Friday.
Tokyo Electric Power also said that two large holes, both about 8 meters in circumference, were found in the northwestern wall of the No. 4 reactor building.
According to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, work to pump sea water into the power plant's No. 1, 2 and 3 reactors is continuing to cool them.
But water levels have not risen sufficiently. This suggests that water may be leaking, the Tokyo Electric Power officials said.
The No. 4 reactor building contains an 8-meter-deep pool to store spent fuel rods. Currently, 783 spent fuel rods are in the pool.
In early Monday morning, the temperature in the pool surged to 84 degrees Celsius from the normal level of 40 degrees.
Tokyo Electric Power on Tuesday reported to the central and Fukushima prefectural governments that about 70 pct of the fuel rods of the No. 1 reactor is seen to have been damaged. For the No. 2 reactor, 33 pct of the fuel rods might have been damaged, it said.
Cracks and holes have been found on the reactors' cladding tubes that cover the nuclear fuel and prevent radioactive substances from being released outside, because they were damaged after overheating due to a loss of cooling water inside the reactors, according to the company.
But the tubes were not completely damaged, and the uranium fuel is unlikely to melt, the company said.
