Amplify’d from abcnews.go.com
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in northeastern
Japan forced the temporary evacuation of workers,
Tokyo's utility company said Wednesday.
Operators of the power station have been toiling to
cool the reactors and spent fuel pools at the plant
after it was damaged by the March 11 tsunami, which
knocked out power to the cooling systems.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said today that
he regrets that rain and wind have spread radiation
from Fukushima.
Earlier today Japanese officials issued a statement
advising that tap water in Tokyo not safe for infants
as it has tested two times above the limits for
radioactive iodine. The Tokyo Water Bureau said that
the number of Becquerel per unit detected was 210.
The allowable level for infants is 100, while the
allowable level for adults is 300.
Officials said that babies in Tokyo should not be fed
tap water, but that the level is not an immediate health
risk for adults.
Speaking with the press today, Edano said that the
Japanese government is looking into what can be
done for families with infants.
Radiation has now seeped into vegetables, raw milk,
the water supply and even seawater in the areas
surrounding the plant.
Broccoli was added Wednesday to a list of tainted
vegetables, now including spinach, canola and
chrysanthemum greens.
Meanwhile, this morning a spokesman for the
nuclear safety agency said that high-level radiation
fields of 500 millisieverts/hr were detected at Unit 2's
turbine building a few days ago, and that is
preventing workers from trying to restore the power
at the control room.
At those levels a worker would reach Japan's imposed
30 minutes.
Exposure of 500 milliSvr is the generally accepted
threshold at which individuals would begin to suffer
immediate health effects.
The temperature and pressure readings in the core of
Unit 1 are also a major concern. The vessel is
designed to a threshold of 302 degrees Celsius.
Currently its external temperature is now about 400
degrees Celsius.
It has been reported that the unit is not in danger of
melting, but seawater is now being injected at nine
times the previous rate.
That, too, has to be done very carefully, as adding
water increases the pressure inside the reactor vessel.
If pressure gets too high, it would likely result in the
need to release of radioactive steam to reduce the
pressure and avoid damage to the vessel, or even
worse, an explosion.
While the hope is that power will be back on soon –
which will help re-establish some sense of what is
really happening -- the actual conditions of the plant
and all these flare-ups present their own unique
dangers. This all force workers to focus on mitigating
Additionally, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
said today it will stop all milk products and vegetable
and fruit products imported from the Japan's
prefectures of Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi and
Gunma from entering the U.S. -- a response to public
fears about the Fukushima nuclear plant.
This announcement comes despite the agency's
repeated assurances that radiation found in foods in
Japan was small, and posed no risk to the U.S. food
supply.
Economic costs of the catastrophic March 11
earthquake and tsunami could reach $309 billion,
according to the Associated Press. Utilities have
imposed power rationing, while many factories
remain closed and key rail lines are impassable.
The Associated Press estimates the current death toll
at over 9,400, with more than 14,700 still missing.
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bw93k
No comments:
Post a Comment