JAPAN: Authorities say melting fuel rods contaminated reactor water/China sends supersized pump truck to stricken Fukushima Daiichi power plant

Record ID: 1963316

  • Title: JAPAN: Authorities say melting fuel rods contaminated reactor water/China sends supersized pump truck to stricken Fukushima Daiichi power plant
  • Date: 29th March 2011
  • Summary: CHIBA, JAPAN (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (MARCH 27, 2011) (CCTV - NO ACCESS CHINA) PUMP TRUCK PARKED OUTSIDE WAREHOUSE JAPANESE PERSONNEL ON DRIVER'S AND PASSENGER'S SEAT LOOKING AT TRUCK'S DASHBOARD PUMP TOWER EXTENDING JAPANESE PERSONNEL WATCHING AS REMOTE CONTROL IS USED JAPANESE PERSONNEL TRYING REMOTE CONTROL JAPANESE PERSONNEL USING REMOTE CONTROL, PUMP TOWER RISING VAR
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  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: International Relations,Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVA1FG1T0HVAA8AMHKUUKEVRILNH
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters on Monday (March 28) melting fuel rods may have contaminated the water found with high levels of radioactivity at a stricken nuclear plant over the weekend.
    The spike in radioactivity forced the evacuation of workers, dealing another setback to the operators of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant battling to contain the world's worst nuclear accident in 25 years.
    Edano said the water in the basement of the building housing No. 2 reactor was likely due to melting fuel rods.
    "According to reports that I have received, the radiation seems to have come from fuel rods that temporarily melted down and came in contact with water (used to cool the reactor). It (the meltdown) was not continuous," he said.
    His response suggested there was no crack in the reactor containment vessel, as some had feared was a possibility with the abnormally high radiation levels.
    He said the airborne radiation was mainly contained within the reactor building.
    Radiation at the nuclear plant has soared in recent days, with a reading on Sunday showing contamination 100,000 times normal in water at reactor No. 2.
    But radiation levels in the nearby sea, which had soared on Sunday to 1,850 times normal, had come down sharply, Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy director general of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, told a news conference on Monday.
    Though experts said radiation in the Pacific waters will quickly dissipate, the levels at the site are clearly dangerous.
    In Chiba prefecture, a super-sized water pump truck provided by a Chinese company to help cool the Fukushima reactor left for the site on Sunday (March 27) morning after personnel were trained, China's state-run CCTV broadcaster reported.
    Three workers from nuclear plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) were given training on how to handle the machine.
    Sakai Hiroaki, chief of the civil construction department of the Fukushima plant, had himself suffered the quake and tsunami. Fukushima, where the crippled nuclear plant is located, is one of the three worst hit prefectures.
    "My house was completely flushed away by the tsunami. Fortunately, all my family members are safe. So my hope now is that my hometown will recover as soon as possible," Hiroaki said.
    The Japanese personnel thanked the Chinese for their help, and were set to drive the pump truck to Fukushima on Sunday morning.
    Plant workers have been battling to control the six-reactor Fukushima complex since the earthquake. Last week, fire trucks doused sea water onto the overheating reactors. Then TEPCO switched to fresh water, after concern arose that salt deposits might hamper the cooling process.
    Fires, explosions, and radiation leaks have repeatedly forced the teams to suspend their efforts to avert a catastrophic meltdown at the plant, which lies 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo.
    Experts are anxious to find out whether the reactor cores are broken and leaking, as that could lead to a meltdown.
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