TEPCO has shown a map of the rad levels on site. The discovery of a general 300 mSv area (30 R/hr) has been noted and our previously reported finding of a piece of debris reading 900 mSv (90 R/hr) has been repeated. This helps explain why TEPCO is now working so hard on using the remote controlled vehicles to clear the debris from the area of the reactor buildings.
Going now to the water problem, TEPCO now sees a rising water level in the No. 3 and No. 4 plant turbine buildings... and this water is now much more highly contaminated than it was one week ago. There doesn't seem to be much use in speculating where the water in each building is coming from; it may be one water mass, essentially, through fissures and voids in the ground / concrete / foundations and there could be water from all the plants in communication. The same tired line is obvious; TEPCO needs to re-establish some sort of recirculating cooling ASAP. At least as of this time repeating this line we can also say that TEPCO clearly knows this and has already ordered equipment (the heat exchangers) to make it happen.
In the meanwhile TEPCO tries to stay ahead of the water storage problem by buying and shipping in storage. Tanks are being placed on site, and so far as we know work on the mega-float continues.. this particular tank having arrived April 7th at Yokohama for modification for this operation.
Here are some interesting TEPCO press photos. First, a Komatsu PC200 excavator with claw attachment in place of the normal bucket. The arm of this machine has the number 2.9t on it which we assume means lift capacity of 2.9 metric tons. In the background is the lead-shielded mobile operating center for the remotely controlled equipment such as the Komatsu.
And we also have a look inside the control area for remote controlled equipment. We aren't sure if this is the inside of the mobile vehicle or not, but it might be. Again, this is a TEPCO press photo.
9:00 PM Eastern Monday 4/25
ATOMIC POWER REVIEW
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