Japan:High Radiation Leak Suggests Damage To No. 3 Reactor Vessel: Agency

Nikkei ^ | 03/25/11

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Friday, March 25, 2011

High Radiation Leak Suggests Damage To No. 3 Reactor Vessel: Agency

TOKYO (Kyodo)--A high-level radiation leak detected Thursday at one of six troubled reactors at the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant indicates possible damage to the reactor's vessel, pipes or valves, the government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said Friday.

Three workers at the No. 3 reactor's turbine building, connected to the reactor building, were exposed Thursday to water containing radioactive materials 10,000 times the normal level, with two of them taken to hospital due to possible radiation burns to their feet, the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said.

Hidehiko Nishiyama, spokesman for the governmental nuclear regulatory body, told a press conference, ''At present, our monitoring data suggest the (No. 3) reactor retains certain containment functions, but there is a good chance that the reactor has been damaged.''

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P!

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Ya think?

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They suspect that they actually stepped in a puddle of water that had come from either inside the reactor chamber or from inside the Spent Pools according to Japanese reports. Best to avoid stepping into puddles. Also do not want to stare into any funny looking light beams.

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