Lethally radioactive steam escaping from floor crevice near Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1 reactor primary containment
June 4, 2011
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Blurry video filmed by remotely controlled robot showing extremely highly radioactive steam escaping from crevice in floor near Reactor Unit 1 core and primary containment structureUSA Today reports radiation dose rates as high as 400 Rem per hour near the Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1 "suppression pool" -- part of the primary radioactivity containment structure -- near the melted down reactor core. Exposure to such high level gamma radiation could deliver a lethal dose in an hour, or less for certain more vulnerable persons. Protective suits do not protect workers from gamma radiation, which, similar to X rays, simply blasts through such thin material. "Nationally televised news Saturday showed blurry video of steady smoke curling up from an opening in the reactor floor" begs the question, has the molten core melted all the way through the reactor pressure vessel? Has it even melted all the way through the primary containment structure? Can this be defined as a "China Syndrome" situation? If it has, then molten core would now be in the secondary reactor containment building, destroyed by the March 12 hydrogen gas explosion, and open to the sky. This would represent direct pathways for large-scale releases of hazardous radioactive gases, volatile radioactive particles, and other radioactive poisons carried along with escaping steam. Japan's NHK World reports that at Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1 reactor, "holes in the pressure vessel and damaged...containment vessel, causing highly contaminated water to leak out and accumulate in the basement," is the source of the extremely highly radioactive steam escaping from a crevice in the floor -- filmed by a remotely controlled robot.

Article originally appeared on Beyond Nuclear (https://archive.beyondnuclear.org/).
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