02-11-2011, 09:36 AM
Something suspicious and new is happening...and I can't tell you what.
Japan nuclear crisis: Xenon detected at Fukushima plant
By Roland Buerk
BBC News, Tokyo
Officials are not yet sure if the readings pose a problem
A radioactive gas has been detected at Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, the facility's operator says.
Tepco said xenon had been found in reactor two, which was previously thought to be near a stable shutdown.
There has been no increase in temperature or pressure, but the discovery may indicate a problem with the reactor.
Boric acid - used to suppress nuclear reactions - has been injected as a precaution.
Ever since the meltdowns in March triggered by the huge earthquake and tsunami, engineers have been working to bring the Fukushima reactors under control.
The government and Tepco - the Tokyo Electric Power Company - have said they are on track to achieve a stable shutdown by the end of the year.
But now they have found what could be a problem - radioactive xenon gas detected in a filter in reactor two.
Since it has a short half-life, it indicates a possibility of resumed nuclear fission in recent days.
Tepco says the temperature of the reactor, which has been below boiling point, has not increased, indicating any reaction would be small.
It is not ruling out a false reading but boric acid, which suppresses fission, was injected into the reactor overnight.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Japan a reactor has been switched on for the first time since the disaster.
Safety fears mean local authorities have been refusing permission for restarts after routine maintenance.
Japan nuclear crisis: Xenon detected at Fukushima plant
By Roland Buerk
BBC News, Tokyo
Officials are not yet sure if the readings pose a problem
A radioactive gas has been detected at Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, the facility's operator says.
Tepco said xenon had been found in reactor two, which was previously thought to be near a stable shutdown.
There has been no increase in temperature or pressure, but the discovery may indicate a problem with the reactor.
Boric acid - used to suppress nuclear reactions - has been injected as a precaution.
Ever since the meltdowns in March triggered by the huge earthquake and tsunami, engineers have been working to bring the Fukushima reactors under control.
The government and Tepco - the Tokyo Electric Power Company - have said they are on track to achieve a stable shutdown by the end of the year.
But now they have found what could be a problem - radioactive xenon gas detected in a filter in reactor two.
Since it has a short half-life, it indicates a possibility of resumed nuclear fission in recent days.
Tepco says the temperature of the reactor, which has been below boiling point, has not increased, indicating any reaction would be small.
It is not ruling out a false reading but boric acid, which suppresses fission, was injected into the reactor overnight.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Japan a reactor has been switched on for the first time since the disaster.
Safety fears mean local authorities have been refusing permission for restarts after routine maintenance.
"Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws. - Mayer Rothschild
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass