The Yomiuri Shimbun
Radioactive iodine-131 at a level 4,385 times the government-set limit has been detected in the sea adjacent to Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the government's nuclear safety agency said Thursday.
The seawater was sampled from a spot just south of drain outlets for the plant Wednesday afternoon, according to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.
On the previous day, the agency had announced a seawater iodine level of 3,355 times the limit in a water sample taken Tuesday afternoon. The agency said it is unclear where the iodine came from. The level dropped to 800 times the limit in the Wednesday morning sample before rising again in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, work to move water from an outdoor makeup water storage tank for the No. 3 reactor to another tank was finished, completing a step in the process of removing radioactive water from the turbine buildings of the Nos. 2 and 3 reactors.
As the process is consuming a considerable amount of time, TEPCO has started studying ways to shorten it, TEPCO officials said. The work at the No. 2 reactor was scheduled to be completed on Friday or later, TEPCO said.
The contaminated water within the turbine buildings was to be removed and stored in condensers in the buildings, but the condensers were filled to their capacities. Thus, TEPCO now plans to move the water in the condensers to the outside tanks.
In a related action, TEPCO postponed the start of an operation to spray synthetic resin to prevent the dispersal of radioactive substances from the debris and soil on the grounds of the plant near the Nos. 4, 5 and 6 reactors due to rain.
(Apr. 1, 2011)
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