From Inside Fukushima Reactor, New Data Raises New Worries

Anchor Marco Werman speaks with The World’s environment editor Peter Thomson about the latest news from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Plant operators have found that conditions inside one of the damaged reactors are far worse than had been thought.

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Marco Werman: I’m Marco Werman, this is The World. The damaged reactors are under control and the cleanup can begin. Those were the assurances from the Japanese government three months ago in December about the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the one that was doomed by the tsunami last March. Well, today we got news that conditions inside at least one of the three crippled reactors there are much worse than had been thought back in December. The World’s environment editor, Peter Thomson, joins me now with some of the details. Peter, so what do we know now and how do we know it?

Peter Thomson: Well, Marco, we’ve learned two crucial things about one of the damaged reactors, that’s Unit 2. Engineers have found that radiation levels inside are much higher than they thought, and that levels of cooling water are much lower; and both of those, of course, are bad news. In particular, on the radiation levels, engineers have finally been able to directly measure the levels inside Unit 2 and they found that they’re currently seven times higher than they thought, and that’s 10 times the lethal dose for humans.

Werman: And what about the water level?

Thomson: Well, they were also able to measure that for the first time in Unit 2, and results are equally alarming. They thought the water level was about 10 meters above the floor of the containment building. Well, now they found that it’s only 60 centimeters. That’s only about two feet of water covering the melted uranium fuel at the bottom of the reactor. The good news is though that the temperature of the water itself is far below the boiling point. That means that at least for now the water is doing its job of keeping the fuel cool and preventing a nuclear reaction.

Werman: Why has it been so seemingly hard to get accurate information up until now and how did the plant owners finally manage to get it?

Thomson: Well, they couldn’t get it before because the instruments inside the reactors were destroyed by the tsunami. Now they’ve finally been able to cobble together a new set of instruments and insert them through a small slot built into this reactor, number 2. I should add though that it could be quite a while before they’re able to get instruments into the other two damaged reactors.

Werman: So Japanese citizens, especially those that lived near the Fukushima plant be worried by this new information?

Thomson: Well, this doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s more imminent danger from the plant than had been thought. It also doesn’t mean the plant is less under control. Those are both important to remember. What it does remind us is just how tenuous that declaration from last December really was that the reactors had reached what they called cold shutdown and how incredibly difficult it’s going to be to clean the place up. High radiation levels means it’s going to be even harder for real people to be able to go inside the reactors as they try to decommission them. The government has already estimated that the cleanup is going to take 40 years; this new data could extend that horizon even further, and that’s partly because without being able to get people inside they’re going to have to invent whole new tools to do much of the work. Meanwhile, the lower water level means that there’s a very thin margin of error in case of a new leak in the reactor or a new accident. All three damaged reactors are being cooled by a jerry rigged cooling system which is very vulnerable to a big new earthquake or tsunami, and as our reporter Sam Eaton told us in his recent reporting from Japan, those are still happening all the time.

Werman: The World’s environment editor, Peter Thomson, thanks very much.

Thomson: You’re welcome, Marco.

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