Radiation levels in one Fukushima reactor high enough to kill a human in two minutes
The radiation levels in ‘s unit two reactor are so high they could kill a human in two minutes, according to data collected by a robot.
Tokyo Electric Power, the company which operates the nuclear plant in Fukushima, carried out a robotic survey of the area around the core that melted six years ago, following the earthquake and tsunami that triggered the .
But the scorpion robot Sasori got stuck inside the reactor after its crawling functions failed while climbing over highly radioactive debris and had to be abandoned inside the reactor.
It recorded radiation measures in the area of 210 sieverts per hour, which are lethal enough to kill a human within two minutes.
This is not the first time a robot has become inoperable after entering the reactor.
During a previous survey, another robot designed to clean the debris for Sasori’s passage had to return halfway through when two of its cameras failed after being exposed for two hours to radiation and reaching its maximum tolerance of 1,000 sievert. Such an exposure to can kill a human within seconds.
Despite the dangerously high levels of radiation, company officials said it was not leaking outside the reactor.
The high radiation and inadequate cleaning of the reactors could also limit the scope of future investigations and the company may have to develop more radiation-resistant cameras and equipment.
The probe was specially developed for surveying the interior of the crippled reactor and collect data that will assist in removing the melted fuel.
But the level of radiation and the presence of debris seem to have brought the decommissioning project to a standstill.
No comments yet.
-
Archives
- June 2022 (241)
- May 2022 (375)
- April 2022 (378)
- March 2022 (405)
- February 2022 (333)
- January 2022 (422)
- December 2021 (299)
- November 2021 (400)
- October 2021 (346)
- September 2021 (291)
- August 2021 (291)
- July 2021 (257)
-
Categories
- 1
- 1 NUCLEAR ISSUES
- business and costs
- climate change
- culture and arts
- ENERGY
- environment
- health
- history
- indigenous issues
- Legal
- marketing of nuclear
- media
- opposition to nuclear
- PERSONAL STORIES
- politics
- politics international
- Religion and ethics
- safety
- secrets,lies and civil liberties
- spinbuster
- technology
- Uranium
- wastes
- weapons and war
- Women
- 2 WORLD
- ACTION
- AFRICA
- AUSTRALIA
- Christina's notes
- Christina's themes
- culture and arts
- Fuk 2022
- Fukushima 2017
- Fukushima 2018
- fukushima 2019
- Fukushima 2020
- Fukushima 2021
- general
- global warming
- Humour (God we need it)
- Nuclear
- RARE EARTHS
- Reference
- resources – print
- Resources -audiovicual
- World
- World Nuclear
- YouTube
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
Leave a Reply