Very high radiation near No.2

June 30, 2015

High radiation detected near No.2 reactor pipe

Jun. 30, 2015 - Updated 06:28 UTC+2

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has detected very high levels of radiation near a reactor pipe where workers plan to soon launch a robotic probe inside a containment vessel.

Tokyo Electric Power Company took measurements at the No.2 reactor Friday last week. The unit suffered a meltdown in the March 2011 disaster.

The utility says radiation levels near the pipe leading to the inside of the reactor's containment vessel reached a maximum of more than 1,000 millisieverts per hour.

The utility is planning to inject a robot through the pipe to inspect the melted fuel debris in August. It says workers would have to go near the site to prepare.

Separately, the company has found traces of a blackish material that appears to have melted from the steal cover of the pipe.

Officials say they do not know whether the blackish material has anything to do with high radiation levels. They say they will examine whether it will hamper the robotic probe.

Tokyo Electric says it will decontaminate the area, and that at this point, the schedule for the probe will carry on as scheduled.