Some NISA data

NISA (Nuclear & Industrial Safety Agency) has some new data out.

REACTOR PLANT / FEEDWATER NOZZLE TEMP / REACTOR VESSEL BOTTOM HEAD TEMP

No. 1 / 243C / 229C
No. 2 / 102C / 109C
No. 3 / 81C / 185C

No. 1 is down quite a bit from late yesterday. Rather odd is the continuous wide temperature disparity between feed nozzle temp and bottom head temp on No. 3 plant; yesterday the gradient was 80 degrees but the other way, with the feed nozzle temp being 80C higher. This makes it seem like a deposit of something (salt?) might be insulating the bottom head, but it's too complicated to guess without more data.

PCV pressure and suppression pool pressures on No. 1 plant are on the order of 50 to 55 pounds per square inch. The limit is 76.5 pounds.

Core water level readings on all three plants, where available, are "both low" ranging from -1200 mm to -2300 mm. It seems sure that some of the upper part of each core remains uncovered with water.

Other news: Two workers have been hospitalized after being exposed to high radiation in the No. 3 plant, in the basement area of the turbine building adjacent to the reactor building while trying to reconnect electric power. There are probably high rad areas in this location in all three plants with reactor cores installed. The men seem to have Beta radiation burns. One other worker was exposed at the same time, but not hospitalized. Apparently contaminated water entered their boots while they worked in a water filled area.

The No. 1 plant control room has lighting as of 11:30 AM Tokyo time.

5:35 AM Eastern Thursday 3/24
ATOMIC POWER REVIEW