TOKYO – Japanese workers entered the Fukushima No 1 power plant Thursday for the first time since the complex was damaged by the March 11 twin disasters of earthquake and tsunami, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) officials said.
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As part of efforts to install a cooling system at the No 1 reactor, workers entered the reactor building to remove air contaminated with radioactive substances from inside the reactor building by connecting it to a ventilating device installed at the adjacent turbine building.
Twelve workers with protective suits, masks and air packs will operate for about 40 minutes within the reactor building to connect it to the ventilator with eight pipes, according to Kyodo News.
High radiation levels inside the building have so far prevented workers from entering it. Radiation up to 49 milisieverts per hour was detected inside the reactor building on April 17 during a survey using a robot.
Categories: Japan
BRUSSELS – Belgium’s radiation safety regulator has discovered radiation levels surpassing European Union limits on a shipping container from Japan, the agency said on Wednesday.
The agency is decontaminating the container after it found radiation from Cesium-137 being emitted at a level of 0.5 microsieverts per hour in two rust spots.
This exceeds a limit of 0.2 microsieverts per hour suggested by European officials.
However, a spokeswoman for the agency said the discovery poses no danger to people or the environment, and radiation on the rest of the container was at a level of 0.1 microsieverts per hour.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2011-05/05/content_12451423.htm