Radiation background in Sakhalin region normal-EMERCOM

VLADIVOSTOK, May 6 (Itar-Tass) - Radiation background on the Sakhalin
and Kuril Islands is normal on Friday, ranging from 5 to 17
micro-roentgens per hour, the press service of the Russian Emergency
Situations Ministry's (EMERCOM) main department for the Sakhalin region
reported.
As of 09:00, local time (02:00 MSK) no deviation from the norm was
registered in any of the island districts, weeks after the accident at
Japan's Fukushima-1 nuclear plant. Intensified monitoring of the radiation
situation continues by efforts of 99 posts, including patrol boats of the
Sakhalin Coast Guard department.
No radiation hazard is forecasted, there is no threat to the local
population.
The Fukushima-1 NPP, also known as Fukushima Daiichi, is a disabled
nuclear power plant located on a 3.5-square-kilometre (860-acre) site in
the towns of Okuma and Futaba in the Futaba District of Fukushima
Prefecture, Japan. First commissioned in 1971, the plant consists of six
boiling water reactors (BWR). These light water reactors drove electrical
generators with a combined power of 4.7 GWe, making Fukushima-1 one of the
15 largest nuclear power stations in the world. Fukushima-1 was the first
nuclear plant to be constructed and run entirely by the Tokyo Electric
Power Company (TEPCO). The plant suffered major damage from the 9.0
earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit Japan on 11 March 2011 and is
not expected to reopen. The earthquake and tsunami disabled the reactor
cooling systems, leading to nuclear radiation leaks and triggering a 30 km
evacuation zone surrounding the plant. The Fukushima-2 Nuclear Power
Plant, or Fukushima Daini, is located to the south and also run by TEPCO.