09/04 NYT: Reactor core probably leaked

Tetsuro Yamada / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

WASHINGTON--The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has said nuclear fuel probably leaked from the pressure vessel of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant's No. 2 reactor into the bottom of the containment structure, implying that the damage was worse than previously thought, The New York Times reported Thursday.

"The agency underscored that its interpretation was speculative and based on high radiation readings that [plant operator] Tokyo Electric [Power Co.] had found in the lower part of unit No. 2's primary containment structure, called the drywell," the paper reported.

The commission "does not believe that the reactor vessel has given way, and...believes practically all of the core remains in the vessel," according to the Times.

Commission spokesman Scott Burnell said in an e-mail that a flow of core material out of the reactor vessel to the drywell did not necessarily indicate that the vessel had melted, the Times said. The vessel, he was quoted as saying, is penetrated by pipes, and a seal around one might have failed.

The agency gave a figure for radiation levels in the drywell high enough to cause death within minutes, the Times reported, quoting an e-mail to House of Representatives member Edward Markey, D-Mass.

Regarding Thursday night's large earthquake in the Tohoku region, White House press secretary Jay Carney said U.S. President Barack Obama was aware of the incident.

"We are monitoring that...and [we have] also seen the reports that the power plant at Fukushima was not affected," Carney said. "We are obviously aware of the situation [in Japan]."

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Nishiyama denies NRC view

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Hidehiko Nishiyama, spokesman for the government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, denied the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's view that fuel had probably leaked from the reactor core pressure containment vessel at the No. 2 reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant and collected at the bottom of the containment structure.

"That is not our understanding," Nishiyama said Friday.

(Apr. 9, 2011)