Monday, March 28, 2011

Begins to drain water accumulated in the reactor in Fukushima

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced that it has begun to drain water accumulated in the turbine building of the reactor 1 of the Fukushima nuclear power is essential for continued work to return power to the damaged plant. In a statement issued from its headquarters in Vienna, the IAEA has indicated that the Japanese authorities have reported that TEPCO, the plant manager, has begun to pump the accumulated water to a condenser, which collects the steam passing through the turbine.

The UN atomic agency explained that it is preparing to start the pumping operation in the reactor 2 and is considering removing the water from the turbine building 3 and 4. "The extraction of water from the turbine building is an important step to continue the restoration of the power plant," says the IAEA in its statement.

In the effort to cool the reactors have pumped tons of water in the reactor, which has accumulated in different areas. Last Thursday, three workers were injured in the reactor 3 when exposed to water contaminated with radioactivity levels 10,000 times higher than normal. Today, the IAEA announced that the reactor 1 has detected the presence of iodine 131, cesium 137 and cesium-134 at levels comparable to those of the reactor zone 3 where the accident occurred.

The IAEA fears that the radioactivity in the reactor 3 is from a break in the reactor containment vessel, although it is possible that the origin is in the pool to store spent fuel. In addition to the reactors 1 and 3, TEPCO has announced that the water accumulated in the underground floors of the turbine building of the reactor 2 was detected radioactivity 10 million times higher than normal, which prevents the operators work .

According to experts consulted today by public broadcaster NHK, the reactor 2 could be a leak of radioactive material from the nucleus, which has gone abroad since the suppression pool at the base of reactor.

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