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http://www.jaif.or.jp/english/news_images/pdf/ENGNEWS01_1303123282P.pdfEarthquake Report — JAIF
We have been reporting a status of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station by summarizing news aired by NHK, which is Japanese national broadcasting company. We regard it as most credible news among many news sources and we are happy to say that NHK’s English website has gotten enriched and now you can see movies and English scripts at http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/society.html.Given this situation, we decide to simply place these scripts as it is for the record in case that it will be deleted from the website later, rather than summarizing news as we did.
No. 56: 20:00, April 18NHK news regarding status of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station yesterday and today.- Robot measures radiation
The operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says the maximum radiation level inside the No. 3 reactor building is 57 millisieverts per hour.
Tokyo Electric Power Company used US-made remote-controlled robots on the 1st floor of the No. 1 and No. 3 reactor buildings on Sunday to measure radiation levels, temperatures and oxygen densities.
It announced on Monday that radiation readings were 10 to 49 millisieverts per hour in the No.1 building, and 28 to 57millisieverts per hour in the No. 3 building.
Exposure to the maximum reading in the No. 3 building for 4 and a half hours would exceed the emergency safety limit for nuclear power plant workers, set at 250 millisieverts.
Oxygen densities in both buildings were around 21 percent, high enough for workers to enter the buildings.
On Monday, TEPCO plans to use the robots to take measurements inside the No. 2 reactor.
Based on the collected data, the company will study what kind of work can be done inside the reactor buildings.
Meanwhile, the level of contaminated water in the tunnel of the No. 2 reactor continues to rise.
The level dropped 8 centimeters after about 660 tons of the highly radioactive water was moved into a turbine condenser.
But as of 7 AM on Monday, the water had risen again, to a point 9 centimeters higher than before the transfer.
TEPCO says contaminated water could be flowing into the tunnel since it plugged water leaks from a concrete pit outside the No. 2 reactor into the sea earlier this month.
It hopes to move the radioactive water from the tunnel to an onsite waste processing facility by the end of this week.
Workers at the plant have been looking for and fixing water leaks at the facility.
Monday, April 18, 2011 12:44 +0900 (JST)
- TEPCO issues 6-9 month containment plan
The operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has announced a schedule for getting the crisis under control in 6 to 9 months.
Tokyo Electric Power Company chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata explained the plan at a news conference on Sunday.
He said a two-stage process is scheduled. In the first stage over the next 3 months, TEPCO aims to cool the Number 1 and 3 reactors in a stable manner. It plans to cover fuel rods with water by injecting water into the containment vessels. The company also plans to purify contaminated water and return it to the reactors. It will set up heat exchangers to remove heat from the reactors.
TEPCO says it will contain the radioactivity leakage from the Number 2 reactor by patching the damaged section. Then it will take the same measures as at the Number 1 and 3 reactors.
In the second stage, TEPCO plans to lower the temperature of the fuel in the reactors to below 100 degrees Celsius to stabilize its condition.
Regarding the release of radioactive substances, it will set up water purification facilities to tackle highly contaminated water.
TEPCO also plans to put giant covers over the reactor buildings to prevent the release of radioactive substances into the air.
Regarding environmental monitoring, in the first stage, TEPCO will increase the number of monitoring points within the government-set evacuation areas. In the second stage, it will carry out decontamination to reduce radiation levels in the area.
University of Tokyo graduate school professor Koji Okamoto says officials must approach the work flexibly, be prepared for unexpected situations, and be sure to release plenty of information as they make progress.
Monday, April 18, 2011 06:09 +0900 (JST)
- Workers cannot approach reactor buildings
At the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, high levels of radiation have kept workers from approaching the buildings housing the first 3 reactors, which lost their cooling functions in the March 11th earthquake and tsunami.
On Friday, the highest radiation level measured outside the double-entry doors of the Number 1 to 3 reactor buildings was 2 to 4 millisieverts per hour.
Radiation levels measured between the double doors of those reactor buildings was 270 millisieverts in the Number One reactor, 12 in Number 2, and 10 in Number 3.
The radiation level detected at the Number One reactor exceeds the national exposure limit of 250 millisieverts for nuclear contract workers.
Tokyo Electric Power Company, TEPCO, has started using a remote-controlled robot inside the reactor buildings.
But issues remain as radioactive water has been found in turbine buildings and the utility tunnel outside the reactors.
At the Number 2 reactor, the level of highly contaminated water in the tunnel is still rising. To prevent overflow, TEPCO is stepping up the inspection of the nuclear waste processing facility, to which it aims to transfer contaminated water.
Underground water at the plant is also contaminated.
On Wednesday, the level of radioactive substances sharply increased at facilities where underground water from the Number 1 and 2 reactors is collected.
On Friday, workers kept on monitoring the situation.
They say the level of radioactive substances has stabilized or decreased in every reactor from 1 to 6.
So they say it's unlikely that highly radioactive water is still seeping into underground water.
Monday, April 18, 2011 08:44 +0900 (JST)
- Robot used to investigate reactor buildings
Tokyo Electric Power Company has started using a remote-controlled robot to investigate the reactor buildings at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
High levels of radiation have kept workers from approaching the buildings of the first 3 reactors, which lost their cooling functions in the March 11th earthquake and tsunami.
The utility started investigating the buildings using a US-made remote-controlled robot on Sunday, starting with the No.3 reactor building.
The robot took photos inside the building and measured radiation and oxygen levels as well as the temperature and humidity.
The utility says it is analyzing the findings.
If successful, the condition inside the No.3 reactor building will be known for the first time since a hydrogen explosion occurred there on March 14th.
TEPCO says it will conduct the same investigation inside the No.1 and 2 reactor buildings, and use the findings to study what work can be done.
Monday, April 18, 2011 00:27 +0900 (JST)
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