ID :
198611
Tue, 08/02/2011 - 02:35
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/198611
The shortlink copeid
TEPCO Detects Highest Level of Radiation from Fukushima No. 1 Plant
Fukushima (Jiji Press) - Tokyo Electric Power Co. <9501> said Monday it has detected the highest level of radiation from a facility of the Fukushima No. 1 power plant since the nuclear crisis began in March.
The reading stood at 10 sieverts per hour on the surface of an exhaust stack between the No. 1 and No. 2 reactor buildings.
Three plant workers conducted the radiation monitoring at around 2:30 p.m. (5:30 a.m. GMT). The estimated maximum radiation doses they have received are 4 millisieverts.
The stack is connected to a gas exhaust pipe used in emergency. The highest radiation was measured at the joint connecting the stack and the pipe.
At the No. 1 reactor, TEPCO on March 12 released radioactive steam from the containment vessel to reduce the accumulating pressure inside it and the steam passed through the emergency pipe, officials said, adding TEPCO will shield the stack with steel sheets.
The high radiation, however, will not pose any major problem on the work to contain the nuclear crisis because no specific operations are slated to take place around the stack, the officials said.
TEPCO also said it will build a 30-meter-deep, 800-meter-long steel wall to prevent underground leaks of radioactive water from the No. 1 to No. 4 reactors of the crippled plant into the sea through underground channels.
The shielding wall, to be built a few meters away in front of the existing seawall over the next two years, will go deeper than a low permeable layer to ensure any underground leaks are prevented.
Also on Monday, TEPCO conducted test operations of a new cesium-removing system made by Toshiba Corp. <6502>, IHI Corp. <7013> and U.S. engineering firm Shaw Group Inc.
The new facility will serve as a backup for U.S. decontamination specialist Kurion Inc.'s cesium-catching device. TEPCO hopes the introduction of the new equipment will help improve its processing rate for radioactive water to be reused to cool reactors.
The reading stood at 10 sieverts per hour on the surface of an exhaust stack between the No. 1 and No. 2 reactor buildings.
Three plant workers conducted the radiation monitoring at around 2:30 p.m. (5:30 a.m. GMT). The estimated maximum radiation doses they have received are 4 millisieverts.
The stack is connected to a gas exhaust pipe used in emergency. The highest radiation was measured at the joint connecting the stack and the pipe.
At the No. 1 reactor, TEPCO on March 12 released radioactive steam from the containment vessel to reduce the accumulating pressure inside it and the steam passed through the emergency pipe, officials said, adding TEPCO will shield the stack with steel sheets.
The high radiation, however, will not pose any major problem on the work to contain the nuclear crisis because no specific operations are slated to take place around the stack, the officials said.
TEPCO also said it will build a 30-meter-deep, 800-meter-long steel wall to prevent underground leaks of radioactive water from the No. 1 to No. 4 reactors of the crippled plant into the sea through underground channels.
The shielding wall, to be built a few meters away in front of the existing seawall over the next two years, will go deeper than a low permeable layer to ensure any underground leaks are prevented.
Also on Monday, TEPCO conducted test operations of a new cesium-removing system made by Toshiba Corp. <6502>, IHI Corp. <7013> and U.S. engineering firm Shaw Group Inc.
The new facility will serve as a backup for U.S. decontamination specialist Kurion Inc.'s cesium-catching device. TEPCO hopes the introduction of the new equipment will help improve its processing rate for radioactive water to be reused to cool reactors.
