Mars 2011: Kärnkraftverket i Fukushima - utbruten och sammanfogad tråd

Stohl also noted that his study found cesium-137 emissions dropped suddenly at the time workers started spraying water on the spent fuel pool from one of the reactors. That challenges previous thinking that the pool wasn't emitting cesium, he said.

An official drinks water from Fukushima plant

A senior government official drank a glass of water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on Monday in an apparent effort to demonstrate its safety.

On October 7th, Tokyo Electric Power Company began spraying about 70 tons of purified water over the compound at its Fukushima nuclear plant every day. The utility uses the water after removing radioactive substances and salt from the contaminated water that has accumulated in the basements of the Numbers 5 and 6 reactor buildings.

TEPCO and the government's nuclear safety agency say the level of radioactive cesium in the purified water is below the government standard for bathing, and does little harm to the environment.

Reporters in Tokyo have been grilling Cabinet Office Parliamentary Secretary Yasuhiro Sonoda on the safety of the purified water since the middle of October.

On Monday, Sonoda demonstrated to the reporters the safety of the water by drinking a glass of it.

When asked if he could wipe away public concern about the water, Sonoda said he drank the water because he was asked to, but he does not think his act can ensure the water's safety.

He added that the best way to do that is with data.
Monday, October 31, 2011 21:36 +0900 (JST)

"Just drinking [decontaminated water] doesn't mean safety has been confirmed. Presenting data to the public is the best way."

TEPCO: New criticality seen at No.2 reactor

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant says the No.2 reactor may have recently gone critical.

Tokyo Electric Power Company said on Wednesday its latest findings suggest that the state of criticality may have continued temporarily.

TEPCO detected radioactive substances, xenon-133 and xenon-135, in gas taken from the reactor's containment vessel on Tuesday. Both materials are produced during nuclear fission and have a short half-life of 5 days and 9 hours respectively.

The xenon-133 registered 14 parts per million becquerels per cubic centimeter, and the xenon-135 12 parts per million.

After detecting the xenon, TEPCO poured a boric acid solution into the No.2 reactor to suppress nuclear fission. It said temperature and pressure in the reactor are basically unchanged.

The operator says the reactor continues to cool, and that it expects to achieve cold shutdown by the end of the year as planned.

It says it will continue to monitor xenon levels in the No.2 reactor and also check conditions in the No.1 and No.3 reactors.

TEPCO adds it will discuss the matter with the government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.
Wednesday, November 02, 2011 13:26 +0900 (JST)