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Environment
Plutonium ``With No Risk To Human Health`` Detected in Fukushima Nuke Plant Soil
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Tokyo- (PanOrient News) Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said Monday that Plutonium has been detected in soil at five locations at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, but the level "does not pose a risk to human health."
The plutonium is believed to have been discharged from nuclear fuel at the plant, which was damaged by the devastating March 11 earthquake and the 14 meter-high tsunami.
TEPCO tried to play down worries, saying it will strengthen monitoring on the environment in and around the nuclear plant.
On Monday, Tokyo Electric Power continued work to remove radiation-contaminated water from the basements of the turbine buildings for the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 reactors.
The water contains high levels of radioactive materials such as iodine and cesium that are believed to have been generated as a result of nuclear fission reactions inside the nuclear fuel rods.
Tokyo Electric Power believes that the toxic materials made their way into the water after the fuel rods were damaged. On the basis that the water may have leaked from the reactors to the turbine buildings, the firm reduced the amounts of water injected into reactor pressure vessels for cooling.
Exposure to 100 millisieverts is the legal limit for nuclear plant workers dealing with an emergency, but the limit has been raised to 250 millisieverts during the ongoing crisis, the worst Japan has seen, at the plant some 220 kilometers northeast of Tokyo.
Among the 19, three received treatment at a radiation research center in Chiba Prefecture after they were exposed to radiation of 173 to 180 millisieverts Thursday, Kyodo News reported. They were discharged Monday, with officials of the center saying the exposure has not affected their health.
PanOrient News
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