WTH? 10 sievert in Fukushima?

[Julhelm]

Not millisieverts, sieverts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/02/world ... .html?_r=2
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43982727/ns ... a_pacific/
http://www.infiniteunknown.net/2011/08/ ... actor-1-2/

TOKYO — Pockets of lethal levels of radiation have been detected at Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in a reminder of the risks faced by workers battling to contain the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) reported on Monday that radiation exceeding 10 sieverts (10,000 millisieverts) per hour was found at the bottom of a ventilation stack standing between two reactors.

Tepco said Tuesday it found another spot on the ventilation stack itself where radiation exceeded 10 sieverts per hour, a level that could lead to incapacitation or death after just several seconds of exposure.
Slideshow: Devastation in Japan after quake (on this page)

The company used equipment to measure radiation from a distance and was unable to ascertain the exact level because the device's maximum reading is 10 sieverts.

While Tepco said the readings would not hinder its goal of stabilizing the Fukushima reactors by January, experts warned that worker safety could be at risk if the operator prioritized hitting the deadline over radiation risks.

"Radiation leakage at the plant may have been contained or slowed but it has not been sealed off completely. The utility is likely to continue finding these spots of high radiation," said Kenji Sumita, a professor at Osaka University who specializes in nuclear engineering.

"Considering this, recovery work at the plant should not be rushed to meet schedules and goals as that could put workers in harm's way. We are past the immediate crisis phase and some delays should be permissible."
Slideshow: Then-and-now: Tsunami cleanup (on this page)
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Workers at Daiichi are only allowed to be exposed to 250 millisieverts of radiation per year.

Tepco, which provides power to Tokyo and neighboring areas, said it had not detected a sharp rise in overall radiation levels at the compound.

"The high dose was discovered in an area that doesn't hamper recovery efforts at the plant," Tepco spokesman Junichi Matsumoto told reporters on Tuesday.

Although it is still investigating the matter, Tepco said the spots of high radiation could stem from debris left behind by emergency venting conducted days after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that crippled the plant.

Two workers at the plant died in the initial earthquake and tsunami disasters on March 11 and a third died from a heart attack on May 14 while working in a waste disposal building. All three deaths were unrelated to nuclear radiation.

Currently, 35 of Japan's 54 reactors are idle, causing electricity shortages amid sweltering heat. The government has ordered safety checks on all reactors.

Meanwhile, more than a dozen regional governments in Japan announced Monday that they would conduct tests to determine whether locally grown rice contains too much radioactive caesium.

Excessive levels of radiation have already been found in beef, vegetables, tea, milk, seafood and water.

[Sea Skimmer]

Yeah they found two of those hot spots week ago, plus another 460 rem per hour hot spot in a rainwater drain pipe leading out of the vent stack. This is inside the emergency vent stack connected to not one but two of the reactor containment vessels, vents which has been open since the first days of the disaster including prior to all the explosions. It’s not surprising that extremely high levels of radioactive gases would condense inside of it, leading to the accumulation of a powerful hotspot at the bottom.

Frankly this is of far lesser concern, because it is so logical, then reports that the water in the flooded basements of the turbine halls is at 40-200 rem per hour levels at the surface, and that levels increase with depth with the water being as deep as 6 meters. Those levels are very concerning because they suggest that reactor fuel may gotten out of the containment structures completely. It could be in at least one of the turbine halls for all anyone really knows at this point. The 40 rem per hour level is official, the higher level for I believe unit 2, came from a worker who said TEPCO is refusing to release any information on it, just as they continue to refuse to release most information on the status of the reactors other then the most basic temperature and water injection levels.

It also turns out the Japanese government sent evacuees directly into the worst possible fallout zone in the first week of the disaster rather then release information it had on the predicted paths of the cloud and have to evacuate a larger area.

Also some people think unit 3 melted down twice after TEPCO stopped pumping in enough cooling water... great job if true. Four meltdowns from three reactors!

[cosmicalstorm]

Have there been any casualties from radiation so far?

[wautd]

Not millisieverts, sieverts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/02/world ... .html?_r=2
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43982727/ns ... a_pacific/
http://www.infiniteunknown.net/2011/08/ ... actor-1-2/

The company used equipment to measure radiation from a distance and was unable to ascertain the exact level because the device's maximum reading is 10 sieverts.

So it could be even more?

[Sea Skimmer]

Relatively early in the crisis several TEPCO contract workers received radiation burns to the feet and lower legs after they waded into radioactive water without waterproof clothing or checking radiation levels; pretty much a colossal fuckup safety supervision. Other then that no radiation deaths or injuries have been reported, and the only deaths at the plant from any cause remain two workers who drown in the basement of one of the turbine halls when the tsunami struck.

However a number of workers have reached the 25 rem elevated limit the Japanese government established for the emergency work force. The prior limit had been 10 rems per year which was already high compared to international standards; the US for example had a limit of 5 rems per year though average exposure was closer to 1.2, and I believe the UK standard is 2 rems per year. Japan ran hot plants, and TEPCO engaged in a lot of less the honest accounting with radiation levels prior to the disaster so god only knows what some of these guys have really been exposed too. It is known that they had a shortage of radiation badges early in the disaster so some workers exact status is honestly not certain. One would assume it is being estimated from other workers badges.

Normal background radiation levels for the lower 48 states in the US give the average citizen about .36 rems per year, more then half of which is radon gas and the rest is medical technology, TSA porno scanners, cosmic rays and uranium and other radioactive metals in the ground and air. 25 rems in a few months is worrying, but it is at least not a certain death sentence by any means.

TEPCO has released a series of maps of radiation levels and hot spots across the plant; the latest one includes the vent stack hotspots which are the ‘greater then 10,000’ cloud. 1 mSv = .1 rem
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima- ... 0802-e.pdf

But keep in mind, a lot of the radiation is alfa and beta particles on the ground, so simply wearing a plastic suit and heavy boots will pretty much block that completely. However it will do nothing against the numerous gamma ray sources. As it is basically in most of the outdoor plant area workers have to run from shelter to shelter to minimize exposure, and do this while carrying heavy equipment and construction materials in plastic suits with gas masks on. TEPCO is going to have a hell of a time supplying enough workers to keep up the pace of work for the coming months.

Also keep in mind that this map doesn’t show a number of highly radioactive hot spots (hundreds, some may have been a thousand plus rems per hour) that TEPCO had to plow under under with tank mounted dozer blades in the early days after the explosions. TEPCO has avoided any further talk of what those hot spots might have been (like say, core debris blown out of the reactor vents, maybe) or what they plan on doing about them in the future. Slowly the less dangerous hotspots and debris are being removed to an isolated area of the complex... but with radiation still flowing out of all three reactors new hot spots will keep forming.

[Sea Skimmer]

So it could be even more?

It is higher, maybe by as much as 25% according to one blurb I read, but nobody knows, that estimate is based off reports of worker exposure levels with imprecise timescales. The other thing is, these radiation levels, that's with the radiation sensor touching the outside of the steel pipe. Whatever the level is on the inside of the pipe, it would be higher. TEPCO plans to build a steel wall around the site, as workers must pass by it regularly, and worry about other things. Nothing else they can do right now.

[Todeswind]

Of course.... just.... fucking of course...

[Shinova]

Isn't the japanese government kinda well-known for sheer incompetency? Cause this is pretty morbidly lol.

[Broomstick]

What do you suggest they do with a spot that is radiating 10+ sieverts per hour? Seriously - how do you think they should handle that? Dig out the spot and pipe and bury it somewhere far away? OK - now how do you propose to operate the shovel that's going to do that?

It's good to know it's there, so you can put up a fence around it with a sign that says IF YOU CROSS THIS FENCE YOU WILL DIE but other than that, what can be done?

[Sea Skimmer]

Isn't the japanese government kinda well-known for sheer incompetency? Cause this is pretty morbidly lol.

It’s not competent at day to day tasks, but as a society they are geared completely against taking quick decisions or anything at all which could involve taking reasonability. Everything has to be agreed in advance in triplicate or it doesn’t get done. Kids are trained in school that they cannot do anything alone in society. It’s all well and good for making cars but absolutely terrible for dealing with a disaster. But Japan hasn’t had to deal with a disaster worse then the Kobe earthquake since 1945. The response to Kobe sucked too. The Toyohama Tunnel collapse in 1996 meanwhile was almost what you could call a textbook example of Japanese blame/reasonability shifting. Thankfully in that case.. It turned out everyone had died instantly anyway and the only people to suffer further were the relatives screaming at the authorities do actually do something.

The fact that major corporations and the Japanese government are the exact same thing and that TEPCO had a long history of exploiting its loyal drones sure doesn't help things. I can't help but think the shear scale of this disaster and cover-up, plus the ageing population, plus the fact that Japan has been undergoing some real fundamental changes already, like having homeless people and the end of lifetime employment, may not change the culture for good. But by that I mean forever, not necessarily for the better though I'd hope so.

[CJvR]

Not millisieverts, sieverts.

Must be fuel elements, no amount of contamination would be that hot and concentrated this long after the disaster. IIRC there were some odd reports that there had been an internal explosion in the block 2 reactor, perhaps this is a result of that. 10 Sievert/h will give you mild radiation poisoning in 5 minutes, possibly fatal in 15-30, probably fatal in 30-60 and certainly fatal above that. Overall not a nice thing to stumble over. At Chernobyl they manually cleared stuff like this off the roof because the robots deployed couldn't handel the radiation.