Tokyo, April 18 (Jiji Press)--Tokyo Electric Power Co. <9501> said Monday that spent nuclear fuel rods at the No. 2 reactor at its crippled nuclear power plant may be damaged although damage levels have yet to be known.
The company said its examination of water in a tank connected to the spent fuel pool of the reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 plant, ravaged by the March 11 quake and tsunami, found 4,100 becquerels of radioactive iodine per cubic centimeter and 4,000 to 160,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium.
The radioactive cesium levels are extremely high, company official Junichi Matsumoto said. The company believes the levels, compared with data on leaks from the reactor vessel, indicate that spent fuel rods have been exposed and damaged. The spent fuel pool contains 615 fuel assemblies.
However, the industry ministry's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency believes the detected radioactive materials are likely to have leaked from the reactor vessel.
The agency explained that it is implausible to associate the high concentration of iodine-131, whose half-life is short, with spent nuclear fuel rods, which are stored for a long time.
The radioactive cesium levels are extremely high, company official Junichi Matsumoto said. The company believes the levels, compared with data on leaks from the reactor vessel, indicate that spent fuel rods have been exposed and damaged. The spent fuel pool contains 615 fuel assemblies.
However, the industry ministry's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency believes the detected radioactive materials are likely to have leaked from the reactor vessel.
The agency explained that it is implausible to associate the high concentration of iodine-131, whose half-life is short, with spent nuclear fuel rods, which are stored for a long time.
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