TEPCO: Fukuskima Holds 81 Million Tera-Becquerels of Iodine-131, 1% Already Released

NHK is reporting that 30,000 tera-becquerels of iodine-131 have been released thus far from Fukushima's stricken nuclear plants, roughly 1.2 to 1.3 × 10¹⁷ becquerels per day, and that the complex houses a massive 81 Million Tera-Becquerels of Iodine-131.  This compares to a TOTAL iodine-131 release at Chernobyl of
1.76 × 10¹⁸ becquerels of iodine-131. Add in the fact that Fukushima is leaking massive amounts of radioactive strontium, caesium, and the most toxic substance on earth: radioactive plutonium, and we may soon be looking at a newly derived severity level of 8 for the Fukushima disaster, which will end up being known as the worst nuclear disaster in mankind's history.

From NHK

TEPCO: 1% of radioactive iodine released outside

Tokyo Electric Power Company estimates that about one percent of the radioactive iodine at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has been released since the March 11th earthquake and tsunami damaged the facility.

The company on Tuesday announced the estimated radioactivity levels of all substances at the plant's 6 reactors and fuel storage pools at the time of the disaster.

The estimates are classified under radioactive noble gases, iodine or other materials.

81 million tera-becquerels of iodine-131 are believed to have existed at the plant.

The utility says the amount of iodine-131 released outside the plant is about one percent of the total with a margin of error included.
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said earlier in the day that 130,000 tera-becquerels of iodine-131 have been released so far.

The company also says that, provided no leak occurred, the level of iodine-131 at the plant had fallen to less than one-hundredth of the pre-disaster level as of Monday.

The level declines naturally, as the radioactivity of iodine-131 falls by half in 8 days.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011 03:18 +0900 (JST)