TEPCO’s contamination map shows radiation levels at 150 plant areas
Apr. 25, 2011
A contamination survey map drawn up by Tokyo Electric Power Co. shows the radiation levels at about 150 locations inside the utility's damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, according to information obtained Saturday by Kyodo News.
The company known as TEPCO updates the data periodically to help guide workers trying to contain the nuclear crisis at the plant in Fukushima Prefecture, which was crippled after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, avoid highly radioactive areas.
It also submits the updated maps of data near the Nos. 1 to 4 reactors to the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry and the government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency and posts them at the base for dealing with the crisis in Fukushima Prefecture.
In the first revelation of detailed radiation levels inside the plant, the map containing data up to Wednesday night shows that a piece of debris near the No. 3 reactor recorded a high radiation emission of 900 millisieverts per hour.
Many of the locations, including a pipe through which highly radioactive water is being transferred and rubble that remains on the premises, indicated radiation measurements of about 100 millisieverts, the data show.
Another piece of debris found beside the No. 3 reactor measured 300 millisieverts, and the surface of a pipe that sends water containing high levels of radiation to a nuclear waste disposal facility recorded 75 to 86 millisieverts.
A pipe near the facility contained radiation as high as 160 millisieverts.
The government has raised the legal limit on the amount of radiation to which each worker can be exposed in an emergency situation to 250 millisieverts. It takes less than 17 minutes to reach the limit when a worker is exposed to 900 millisieverts per hour.
Amid concerns about the impact of radiation leaks on the environment and on workers, TEPCO has been using remotely controlled equipment to remove debris from hydrogen explosions at some of the reactors following the earthquake and tsunami disaster. It is expected to take around six months to complete the task.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on April 24, 2011)
The company known as TEPCO updates the data periodically to help guide workers trying to contain the nuclear crisis at the plant in Fukushima Prefecture, which was crippled after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, avoid highly radioactive areas.
It also submits the updated maps of data near the Nos. 1 to 4 reactors to the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry and the government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency and posts them at the base for dealing with the crisis in Fukushima Prefecture.
In the first revelation of detailed radiation levels inside the plant, the map containing data up to Wednesday night shows that a piece of debris near the No. 3 reactor recorded a high radiation emission of 900 millisieverts per hour.
Many of the locations, including a pipe through which highly radioactive water is being transferred and rubble that remains on the premises, indicated radiation measurements of about 100 millisieverts, the data show.
Another piece of debris found beside the No. 3 reactor measured 300 millisieverts, and the surface of a pipe that sends water containing high levels of radiation to a nuclear waste disposal facility recorded 75 to 86 millisieverts.
A pipe near the facility contained radiation as high as 160 millisieverts.
The government has raised the legal limit on the amount of radiation to which each worker can be exposed in an emergency situation to 250 millisieverts. It takes less than 17 minutes to reach the limit when a worker is exposed to 900 millisieverts per hour.
Amid concerns about the impact of radiation leaks on the environment and on workers, TEPCO has been using remotely controlled equipment to remove debris from hydrogen explosions at some of the reactors following the earthquake and tsunami disaster. It is expected to take around six months to complete the task.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on April 24, 2011)
