Radiation in Water at Fukushima Daiichi Reactor 2: Ten Million Times Normal

March 27th, 2011

Update: Proof of Partial Meltdown

Duh.

Via: Deutsche Welle:

TEPCO did retract on Sunday a previous announcement that the radiation in the water was 10 million times higher than normal, saying the mistake was due to confusion between readings of iodine and cobalt in the water. The operator did not retract the 1,000 millisieverts figure.

Olivier Isnard, an expert with the French Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety, said the reading was “proof that the reactor core partially melted.”

—End Update—

Update: How About 100,000 Times Higher than Normal?

Via: Kyodo:

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said early Monday the concentration of radioactive substances of the puddle was 100,000 times higher than that usually measured in water in a reactor core, correcting its earlier analysis of 10 million times higher.

—End Update—

Update: And Now… “The number is not credible”

Wow. Who would believe anything that these goons say at this point?

Via: AP:

Emergency workers struggling to pump contaminated water from Japan’s stricken nuclear complex fled from one of the troubled reactors Sunday after reporting a huge increase in radioactivity — a spike that officials later apologetically said was inaccurate.

The apology came after employees fled the complex’s Unit 2 reactor when a reading showed radiation levels had reached 10 million times higher than normal in the reactor’s cooling system. Officials said they were so high that the worker taking the measurements had withdrawn before taking a second reading.

On Sunday night, though, plant operators said that while the water was contaminated with radiation, the extremely high reading was a mistake.

“The number is not credible,” said Tokyo Electric Power Co. spokesman Takashi Kurita. “We are very sorry.”

He said officials were taking another sample to get accurate levels, but did not know when the results would be announced.

—End Update—

Via: Los Angeles Times / AP:

The radioactivity in water in one unit of a hobbled nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan has tested 10 million times higher than normal, the plant’s operator said Sunday.

Leaked water in Unit 2 of the Fukushima Daiichi plant measured 10 million times higher than usual radioactivity levels when the reactor is operating normally, Tokyo Electric Power Co. spokesman Takashi Kurita told reporters in Tokyo.

Radioactivity in the air in Unit 2 measured at 1,000 millisieverts per hour — four times higher than the occupational limit of 250 millisieverts set by the government, he said.

The readings came as workers grappled with how to remove and store the highly radioactive water pooling in four troubled units at the plant.

The discovery of puddles with radiation levels 10,000 times the norm sparked a temporary evacuation of the plant on Thursday. Two workers who stepped into the water were hospitalized with possible burns.

The development set back feverish efforts to start up a crucial cooling system knocked out in a massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami, but has helped experts get closer to determining the source of the dangerous leak.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, speaking Sunday on TV talk shows, said the radioactive water is “almost certainly” seeping from a reactor core.

On Saturday, the utility admitted that it had failed to adequately warn workers about dangerous radioactive water at the plant.

More: CNN:

Radiation levels in pooled water tested in the No. 2 nuclear reactor’s turbine building at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant are 10 million times above normal, utility company and government officials said Sunday.

Hidehiko Nishiyama, an official with Japan’s nuclear and industrial safety agency, said the surface water showed 1,000 millisieverts of radiation. By comparison, an individual in a developed country is naturally exposed to 3 millisieverts per year, though Japan’s health ministry has set a 250 millisievert per year cumulative limit before workers must leave the plant.

The 10-million-times normal reading applies to radioactive iodine-134 found in the No. 2 building’s pooled water, according to the nuclear safety agency. This isotope loses half its radioactive atoms every 53 minutes, compared to a half-life of every eight days for radioactive iodine-131 that has also been detected in recent days.

This exponentially dwindling amount of radiation means, according to Nishiyama, that it’s unlikely that sealife — and, several steps down the line, humans who might eat once contaminated seafood — will suffer greatly from the iodine-134 exposure.

4 Responses to “Radiation in Water at Fukushima Daiichi Reactor 2: Ten Million Times Normal”

  1. williamspd says:

    That’s nice and reassuring (again) from the guys who brought you several nuclear cover-ups in the past. I guess we just have to rely on the old bleeding gums and hair falling out test?

  2. tochigi says:

    “who would believe…?”
    a surprisingly large number of people.
    but not me.
    the main news services, bbc, guardian, NHK are all full of shit now. almost no credible information in the MSM.
    there is some information worth knowing, but you have to wade through the banal crap to find it and you have to have done a bit of research before you can begin to discern which stuff is utter fluff.

  3. tochigi says:

    btw, that AP article is full of lies. e.g.

    “Officials acknowledged there was radioactive water in all four of the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex’s most troubled reactors, and that airborne radiation in Unit 2 measured 1,000 millisieverts per hour, four times the limit deemed safe by the government.”

    the limit is 250 msv PER YEAR. it was 100 until 10 days ago. and the non-emergency limit is 50 msv/y.

    e.g.
    “Officials say they still don’t know where the radioactive water is coming from, though government spokesman Yukio Edano earlier said some is “almost certainly” seeping from a damaged reactor core in one of the units.”

    more deception.
    that level of radiation could only be explained by melted/combusted/exploded fuel rods.

  4. tochigi says:

    “doh” times 10 million.

    there is nothing about this situation that could be described as “good” but the blatant lies and the direct impact people can see on their own health and that of their children and grandchildren are making a lot of people in Japan start to realize just what a venal lying bunch of murderous scum are actually running the show.

    “start” is the operative word.

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