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Monday, May 9, 2011

Japan : Workers measure radiation inside No. 1 reactor

Via Japan Today, excerpt :

" FUKUSHIMA : Workers battling the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant measured radiation inside the No. 1 reactor building early Monday to clear the way for full-scale work to stabilize the country’s worst-ever nuclear emergency after a nearly two-month delay.

The move came after plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co opened the doors linking the reactor building to its adjacent turbine building Sunday evening, and confirmed that the resultant release of radioactive materials into the air had not raised radiation levels on the premises, according to the firm.

Nine workers went into the reactor building around 4:20 a.m. and measured radiation and other conditions inside for about 30 minutes, TEPCO said, without immediately announcing the radiation readings.

If the radiation level is confirmed to be safe for workers to operate inside, they will start building a new cooling system for the reactor—the most severely damaged of the six at the plant—which lost cooling functions in the March 11 quake and tsunami.

Restoration work at the reactor has been hampered by a hydrogen explosion on March 12 and high radiation levels since."

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