28/03/2011-12:16am

Japan nuclear crisis: highly radioactive

Workers who waded through radioactive water at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant

are shielded with a tarpaulin on their way to hospital for treatment Photo: AP

Two of the Japanese plant's six reactors are currently considered safe,

however workers at the plant are continuing to work around the clock in order

to bring the remaining four under control.

The latest high radiation levels, detected in puddles collecting in the Number 2 reactor,

have led experts to speculate that contaminated water has leaked from the reactor's core.

Any effort to investigate further is being hampered by the mandatory evacuation

of workers in the vicinity.

The radiation reading is believed to apply to an isotope known as iodine-134,

which loses half of its radioactive atoms every 53 minutes,

in contrast to iodine-131 which diminishes by a half life every eight days.

Authorities will eventually need to pump the pooled and contaminated

water from the turbine building before continuing with efforts to cool the reactor.

Scientists will also be questioning whether there is a link between the highly

radioactive water inside the reactor and the spike in radiation levels in

nearby Pacific sea waters.

Meanwhile, Tepco officials have confirmed that fresh water – in contrast to the

seawater used earlier – is still being injected into the reactor cores

and nuclear fuel pools in Numbers 1, 2 and 3 reactors.

Visit Japan for a while.....