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

[Agnes Barlow <agnes.barlow@yale.edu>]

Then I must be tired or missing something also. Even the 46,000 Bq is
not clear to me - per liter of water? , in total??[that can't be]   in
what volume?   

Aggie
Agnes.Barlow@Yale.edu
standard disclaimer

Robert Denne wrote:
> 
> 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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