Amplify’d from www3.nhk.or.jp
Plutonium detected again in Fukushima plant soil
The operator of the plant collected samples from 4 locations at the compound of the plant on March 25th and 28th for analysis by an outside organization.
The utility says the radioactive substance was detected on the soil about 500 meters west-northwest of the No.1 reactor and a site near a solid waste storage facility 500 meters north of the reactor.
The first sample measured 0.26 becquerels of plutonium-238 per 1 kilogram of soil, down about 50 percent from the volume found earlier.
Highly toxic plutonium, a byproduct of the nuclear power generation process, was also found at the same locations in samples collected on March 21st and 22nd.
The plutonium appears to be related to the ongoing nuclear accident. TEPCO says the volume is so small that it does not pose a threat to human health.
This level is almost the same as the amount usually in the Japanese soil and also about the same the level of fallout from nuclear tests in the atmosphere outside Japan.
TEPCO says the No.3 reactor at the Fukushima plant was powered with uranium-plutonium mixed-oxide fuel.
But the company says that it cannot identify which reactor released the plutonium, because plutonium is produced at other reactors using uranium fuel.
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/by3du
No comments:
Post a Comment