Fukushima Workers Face Risk of Uncontrolled Reactions

Japan’s damaged nuclear plant may be in danger of emitting sudden bursts of heat and radiation, undermining efforts to cool the reactors and contain fallout. The potential for limited, uncontrolled chain reactions, voiced yesterday by the International Atomic Energy Agency, is among the phenomena that might occur, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters in Tokyo today. The IAEA "emphasized that the nuclear reactors won’t explode," he said.

Radioactive chlorine found March 25 in the No. 1 turbine building suggests chain reactions continued after the reactor shut down, physicist Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, California, wrote in a March 28 paper. Radioactive chlorine has a half-life of 37 minutes, according to the report. 

Contamination of seawater found near the plant has increased. Radioactive iodine rose to 4,385 times the regulated safety limit yesterday from 2,572 times on Tuesday, Nishiyama said. No fishing is occurring nearby and the sea is dispersing the iodine so there is no threat, he said. 


Source: bloomberg

Yukio Edano earlier said some is "almost certainly" seeping from a damaged reactor core in one of the units

Government spokesman Yukio Edano earlier said some is "almost certainly" seeping from a damaged reactor core in one of the units. If so, that raises the potential for long-lasting environmental contamination in areas around the plant.

TEPCO's mistake

"Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the operator of the stricken power station, came under fire on Monday, a day after it erroneously said radiation in water at the site had reached 10 million times the normal level.

It later issued a much lower - but still dangerous - figure.

"Considering the fact that the monitoring of radioactivity is a major condition to ensure safety, this kind of mistake is absolutely unacceptable," said top government spokesman Yukio Edano.

The water inside the reactor two turbine room was measured at 1,000 millisieverts an hour - a dose that can cause temporary radiation sickness with nausea and vomiting for people who are exposed."

 http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1119229/1/.html

TEPCO 3/28/2011:
"The water inside the reactor 2 turbine room was measured at 1,000 millisieverts an hour."