Radiation From Japan N-Plant Leak Far Above Limit

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Friday July 16 9:21 AM ET 

Radiation From Japan N-Plant Leak Far Above Limit

TOKYO (Reuters) - The radiation level of cooling water which leaked 
from a commercial nuclear reactor on the Sea of Japan coast was up to 
11,500 times the maximum allowable limit, operators of the reactor 
said Friday.  

In one of the worst-ever water coolant leaks in Japan, the No. 2 
reactor at the Tsuruga nuclear station in Fukui Prefecture, 320 km 
(200 miles) west of Tokyo, leaked 51 tons of primary cooling water 
Monday before it could be plugged 14 hours later.  

``The radiation in the leaked coolant water registered up to 11,500 
times the upper radiation limit,'' said an official of Japan Atomic 
Power Co.  

The company said Wednesday that the contamination level was 250 times 
the safety limit.

No one was injured in the accident.

High radiation levels were detected two days after the incident but 
workers failed to relay the finding promptly to senior company 
officials, the official said.  

The reactor was manually shut down Monday following fire alarms and 
anomalies in monitor indications.

The company plans to cut off a cracked pipe Sunday to investigate the 
cause of the accident, the official said.

The worst nuclear accident in Japan was an explosion in 1997 at a 
state-run nuclear reprocessing plant in Tokaimura village north of 
Tokyo, which was rated 3.  

Japan has 51 commercial nuclear power plants that provide one-third 
of the country's electricity. 

Sandy Perle
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 
Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205

"The object of opening the mind, as of opening 
the mouth, is to close it again on something solid"
              - G. K. Chesterton -
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