Government doubles estimate on radiation leaked at Fukushima
The government has doubled its estimate for the amount of radioactivity released into the atmosphere during the early days of the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency now says 770,000 terabecquerels were sent into the atmosphere after an earthquake and tsunami on March 11 devastated the nuclear plant.
The agency also said that it believes TEPCO underestimated the speed of events at reactors No. 1 and 2, and that it believes reactors 1 to 3 have suffered meltdowns.
The problems at the Fukushima plant have been exacerbated by bad weather conditions in recent weeks, and workers are now said to be suffering from high stress and dehydration.
As the disaster approaches its third month, political wrangling, devastation in other areas caused by the tsunami and earthquake, and concerns about the future financing of TEPCO have exacerbated the situation, with no end to the problems in sight.
Photo by Daveeza
