Re: Radiation level at Tsuruga plant 11,500 times legal safety limit

["Robert Denne" <rdenne@worldnet.att.net>]

I am either very tired or missing something in the translation here.  Is the
radiation level (mSv/hr) 11,500 times the legal limit or is the
radioactivity level (Bq) 11,500 times the legal limit?  Big difference.  Can
anyone clarify?

Bob Denne
ATG, Richland
----- Original Message -----
From: Sandy Perle <sandyfl@earthlink.net>
To: Multiple recipients of list <radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu>
Sent: Friday, July 16, 1999 8:23 AM
Subject: Radiation level at Tsuruga plant 11,500 times legal safety limit


> Thanks to Ross Pastel who forwarded this news article to me:
>
> Radiation level at Tsuruga plant 11,500 times legal safety limit
>
> Yomiuri Shimbun
>
> TSURUGA?C Fukui -- Monday's coolant leak at a nuclear plant in
> Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, caused radiation levels inside the reactor
> building to shoot up 11,500 times the legal safety limit.
>
> The finding was announced by Japan Atomic Power Co. (Genden), which
> operates the Tsuruga nuclear power station. Massive leakage of
> radioactive cooling water occurred Monday at the station's No. 2
> reactor.
>
> Genden initially said the level of contamination was at least 1,000
> becquerels, 250 times the limit. The firm corrected the figure to
> 46,000 becquerels for Monday. The disparity was due to a lack of
> accurate data, Genden said.
>
> "We did not know the highest level of contamination because workers
> were still measuring it," a Genden official said.
>
> The firm set the limit at four becquerels per square centimeter based
> on the Nuclear Reactors Control Law.
>
> Radiation of 46,000 becquerels was detected in a room on the second-
> level basement, which is nine meters below a cracked stainless steel
> pipe which is believed to be the source of the leak.
>
> Radiation higher than 1,000 becquerels was also detected at several
> locations on that floor. About 2,800 becquerels of radiation was
> detected in a passage, according to Masao Hamada, deputy head of
> Genden's Tsuruga station.
>
> Genden workers continued to remove the water from the room Thursday,
> but with the extremely high level of radiation, the technicians can
> work only five hours a day by law, according to Genden officials.
> Genden allows each person to work from two to three hours a day.
>
> "This is the highest level of radioactivity I have ever heard of
> concerning accidents in Japan, and is an extremely serious
> situation," said Hiroaki Koide of Kyoto University's Research Reactor
> Institute.
>
> "If the level of contamination is actually that high, cleanup efforts
> may expose workers to dangerous levels of radiation," he said.
>
> An official at the Wakasa branch of Kansai Electric Power Co. in
> Mihamacho, Fukui Prefecture, said: "The level of radioactivity is
> quite high and those cleaning up the area could be exposed to
> radiation by touching the equipment or approaching the site, but it
> will be safe if they limit the number of hours spent at the site."
> Kansai Electric operates 11 nuclear reactors.
>
> An official at the Natural Resources and Energy Agency's Nuclear
> Power Operating Administration Office said there was no cause for
> alarm.
>
> "We measured a maximum level of 46,000 becquerels early Thursday
> morning. I have been told that the cleanup effort is being conducted
> at a location with radiation levels of 2,800 becquerels for five
> hours per person. Even if the level was 46,000 becquerels, this is
> something we encounter in regular inspections, and there is no safety
> problem," he said.
>
> Meanwhile, Genden officials said on Wednesday that the leaked water
> flooded almost half of the second-level basement.
>
> According to an investigation conducted by the company, about 51 tons
> of primary cooling water leaked from the cracked pipe, measuring 1.1
> centimeters in diameter. The pipe was located on the building's first
> underground level and was used to connect regenerated-heat
> exchangers.
>
> The leaked water seeped through the first underground level down to
> the second-level basement, flooding areas containing various types of
> machinery, including reactors.
>
> Although some of the water was contained in two of the plant's three
> tank pools, which are located on the second underground level and
> have a total capacity of 33 tons, it continued to flood almost half
> the 650-square-meter area.
>
> 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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