PACA given nuclear all clear as situation worsens at Fukishima

Fukushima nuclear power plant two days after an explosion at reactor three on 13 March [copyright: daveeza]

Jean-Marc Perez, head of surveying the impact of radiation on the environment at the IRSN, downplayed the hysterical reaction whipped up by the French press over the past two weeks. "The radioactive elements from Japan have been diluted in the air over thousands of kilometres," Perez said.

Whilst the levels of radiation remain normal in PACA, the Japanese authorities continue to battle around the clock to contain a nuclear meltdown at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi power plant in north eastern Japan.

Concern was expressed last night about the state of the plant’s number two reactor, with experts fearing that technicians had "lost the race" to prevent part of the unit’s molten core seeping through the pressure vessel that contains the nuclear fusion process.

The concern is that if radioactive material penetrates the concrete base that contains the reactor core, then levels of radiation in the area could rise significantly in a short period of time and have long-term environmental implications for the soil and sea water in the region.

The BBC reported that the Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yuko Edano, told reporters that the government was considering covering the Fukushima plant in a special material that would stop the spread of radioactive substances.

Two weeks ago, the UK’s chief scientific officer Sir John Beddington said that widespread nuclear contamination was unlikely and that immediate threat of exposure to radiation would remain within a 30-kilometre radius of the plant.

There is currently a 20-kilometre exclusion zone around the power station, from which all residents have been evacuated for their safety. Although the recent developments suggest that increasing levels of radiation at Fukushima would push the government into expanding this area.

Richard Lahey, a former safety expert for the American energy company General Electric, quelled speculation that the disaster would result in the same kind of catastrophic environmental damage that occurred in 1986. "It's not going to be anything like Chernobyl, where it went up with a big fire and steam explosion, but it's not going to be good news for the environment [either]," he told the Guardian.

TD