More setbacks at nuclear plant
Source: Agencies |
March 29, 2011, Tuesday
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Print Edition
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Workers discovered new pools of radioactive water leaking from Japan's crippled nuclear complex, officials said yesterday, as emergency crews struggled to pump out hundreds of tons of contaminated water and bring the plant back under control.
Officials believe the contaminated water has sent radioactivity levels soaring at the coastal complex and caused more radiation to seep into soil and seawater.
Crews also found traces of plutonium in the soil outside of the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex, but officials insisted there was no threat to public health.
Plutonium - a key ingredient in nuclear weapons - is present in the fuel at the complex, which has been leaking radiation for over two weeks, so experts had expected some to be found once crews began searching for evidence of it this week.
Tokyo Electric Power Co official Jun Tsuruoka said only two of the plutonium samples taken yesterday were from the leaking reactors. The other three were from earlier nuclear tests.
The Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant was crippled on March 11 when a tsunami spawned by a powerful earthquake slammed into Japan's northeastern coast. Confusion at the plant has intensified fears that the nuclear crisis will last weeks, months or years amid alarms over radiation making its way into produce, raw milk and tap water as far away as Tokyo.
While parts of the Japanese plant has been reconnected to the power grid, the contaminated water - which has now been found in numerous places around the complex - must be pumped out before electricity can be restored to the cooling system.
The buildup of radioactive water first became a problem last week, when it splashed over the boots of two workers, burning them and prompting a temporary suspension of work.
Then yesterday, Tokyo Electric Power Co officials said workers had found more radioactive water in deep trenches used for pipes and electrical wiring outside three units.
The contaminated water has been emitting radiation exposures more than four times the amount the government considers a safe level for the workers.
Exactly where the water is coming from remains unclear, though many suspect it has leaked from one of the disabled reactors.
Meanwhile, new readings showed ocean contamination had spread about 1.6 kilometers farther north of the nuclear site than before but is still within the 20-kilometer radius of the evacuation zone.
Radioactive iodine-131 was discovered offshore at a level 1,150 times higher than normal, Nishiyama, a spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, told reporters.
Amid reports that people had been sneaking back into the mandatory evacuation zone around the nuclear complex, a government spokesman again urged residents to stay out.
Early yesterday, another earthquake shook the northeastern coast and prompted a brief tsunami alert. The quake measured magnitude-6.5, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. No damage or injuries were reported.
On Sunday, officials said that radiation in leaking water in the No. 2 reactor was 10 million times above normal but later they said the figure had been miscalculated and the level was actually 100,000 times normal, still high but better than the earlier results.
Officials believe the contaminated water has sent radioactivity levels soaring at the coastal complex and caused more radiation to seep into soil and seawater.
Crews also found traces of plutonium in the soil outside of the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex, but officials insisted there was no threat to public health.
Plutonium - a key ingredient in nuclear weapons - is present in the fuel at the complex, which has been leaking radiation for over two weeks, so experts had expected some to be found once crews began searching for evidence of it this week.
Tokyo Electric Power Co official Jun Tsuruoka said only two of the plutonium samples taken yesterday were from the leaking reactors. The other three were from earlier nuclear tests.
The Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant was crippled on March 11 when a tsunami spawned by a powerful earthquake slammed into Japan's northeastern coast. Confusion at the plant has intensified fears that the nuclear crisis will last weeks, months or years amid alarms over radiation making its way into produce, raw milk and tap water as far away as Tokyo.
While parts of the Japanese plant has been reconnected to the power grid, the contaminated water - which has now been found in numerous places around the complex - must be pumped out before electricity can be restored to the cooling system.
The buildup of radioactive water first became a problem last week, when it splashed over the boots of two workers, burning them and prompting a temporary suspension of work.
Then yesterday, Tokyo Electric Power Co officials said workers had found more radioactive water in deep trenches used for pipes and electrical wiring outside three units.
The contaminated water has been emitting radiation exposures more than four times the amount the government considers a safe level for the workers.
Exactly where the water is coming from remains unclear, though many suspect it has leaked from one of the disabled reactors.
Meanwhile, new readings showed ocean contamination had spread about 1.6 kilometers farther north of the nuclear site than before but is still within the 20-kilometer radius of the evacuation zone.
Radioactive iodine-131 was discovered offshore at a level 1,150 times higher than normal, Nishiyama, a spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, told reporters.
Amid reports that people had been sneaking back into the mandatory evacuation zone around the nuclear complex, a government spokesman again urged residents to stay out.
Early yesterday, another earthquake shook the northeastern coast and prompted a brief tsunami alert. The quake measured magnitude-6.5, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. No damage or injuries were reported.
On Sunday, officials said that radiation in leaking water in the No. 2 reactor was 10 million times above normal but later they said the figure had been miscalculated and the level was actually 100,000 times normal, still high but better than the earlier results.
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