Japan's nuclear safety agency has more than doubled its estimate of the amount of radiation released into the atmosphere from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.
And plutonium believed to have come from the plant has also been found in a town near the facility - the first time plutonium has been found in soil outside the facility.
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says it believes the earthquake-stricken Fukushima plant emitted nearly 800,000 terabecquerels of radioactive material into the air in the days after it was hit by a massive tsunami.
That is more than double the original estimate and is based on new information suggesting the No.1 and No.2 reactors suffered meltdowns much earlier than thought.
The revision reveals the failure to contain the disaster resulted in much more radioactive contamination of the soil, sea and air than the plant's operators had acknowledged.
The disaster is rated a maximum seven on the international nuclear accident scale, the same level as the Chernobyl meltdown 25 years ago.
The plutonium was found in the town of Okuma, which is less than two kilometres from the plant.
By analysing the isotopes in the plutonium, researchers were able to confirm it was emitted from the crippled facility.
It is the first time plutonium from the plant has been found beyond its perimeter.
But researchers say the amount detected is lower than the average level usually observed in Japan after fallout from nuclear tests abroad.
Late last month, it was feared two workers at the crippled nuclear plant were exposed to radiation above the level allowed in emergencies.
Japanese media reported the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) workers were exposed to at least 250 millisieverts of radiation.
The maximum dose used to be 100 millisieverts, but it was raised to 250 after the nuclear crisis began
ABC NEWS
MORE:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/07/3237318.htm
hostgator coupon 2011
No comments:
Post a Comment