Tokyo Electric Power Co. on Thursday morning resumed work to restore power and key cooling functions at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant after it was hindered the previous day when black smoke was observed at its No. 3 reactor building.
The utility company, known as TEPCO, said it has ensured it is safe for workers to return after evacuating due to the smoke at the plant, which has been crippled since the March 11 devastating earthquake and tsunami and has leaked radiation.
While the cause of the black smoke remains unknown, no fire was seen and the radiation level did not climb. The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency confirmed the smoke stopped as of 4:50 a.m. Thursday.
All six reactors at the plant had been reconnected to external power as of Tuesday night and workers scrambled to check each piece of equipment, including data measuring tools and feed-water pumps before transmitting power to them.
The science ministry, meanwhile, has launched monitoring of the radiation levels in soil, seawater and air around the plant to examine the extent of contamination and how it will affect the farm and fishery industries.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, which has been monitoring the radiation level in areas 20 to 60 kilometers from the evacuation zone around the plant, said it also started collecting soil within that radius to check the amounts of radioactive iodine and cesium.
It will also monitor if the soil contains strontium, which can cause bone cancer and leukemia.
KyotoNews
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Part of the narrative being developed is that, all TEPCO needs to do is restore power to the site and the situation will be manageable. Indeed, the efforts of Japanese firefighters from Tokyo and members of the Japan Self-Defense Forces to bring in a mile-long, high-voltage transmission line have been heroic. Sadly, dozens of these workers, even by TEPCO’s admission, have been exposed to un-safe levels of radiation. They are likely to pay for their actions with serious, potentially life-threatening health consequences in the short and long-term.
ReplyDeleteThese nuclear power plants are very deleterious so we have to buildup solar power plants and search for other alternatives.
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