Posted on 05/22/2011 5:54:49 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Radioactive debris hampers efforts to cool reactor
The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is facing the new challenge of removal of highly radioactive debris in order to proceed with efforts to stabilize the Number 3 reactor.
Tokyo Electric Power Company on Friday found debris releasing 1,000 millisieverts per hour in an area south of the Number 3 reactor building. It is the highest level of radiation found in debris left outside.
Materials emitting 900 millisieverts of radiation per hour have also been found in the plant's compound. These materials are believed to be part of the large amount of debris contaminated with radioactive substances that had been blown off in hydrogen explosions.
In the area around the Number 1 reactor where removal of debris is making progress, radioactivity fell to nearly half the reading of early April.
But radiation levels are still high in some areas around the Number 3 reactor, where the explosion was powerful.
The situation is hampering work to install devices to stably cool the reactor.
The company says it will expedite the removal of debris by using a remote-controlled vehicle so that it can bring the reactor under control by mid-July as planned.
Sunday, May 22, 2011 09:24 +0900 (JST)
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