A radiation alarm went off at Tokyo Electric Power’s Fukushima nuclear power plant before the tsunami hit on March 11, suggesting that contrary to earlier assumptions the reactors were damaged by the earthquake that spawned the wall of water.
A monitoring post on the perimeter of the plant about 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) from the reactor went off at 3:29 pm, minutes before the station was overwhelmed by the tide of water that knocked out backup power that kept cooling systems running, according to documents supplied by Tepco. The monitor was set to go off for high levels of radiation, an official said.
“We are still investigating whether the monitoring post was working properly,” said Teruaki Kobayashi, the company’s head of nuclear facility management said. ‘‘There is a possibility that radiation leaked before the tsunami arrived.’’
Tepco officials had earlier said the plant stood up to the magnitude-9 quake and was damaged...
Fukushima may have leaked radiation before tsunami
A monitoring post on the perimeter of the plant about 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) from the reactor went off at 3:29 pm, minutes before the station was overwhelmed by the tide of water that knocked out backup power that kept cooling systems running, according to documents supplied by Tepco. The monitor was set to go off for high levels of radiation, an official said.
“We are still investigating whether the monitoring post was working properly,” said Teruaki Kobayashi, the company’s head of nuclear facility management said. ‘‘There is a possibility that radiation leaked before the tsunami arrived.’’
Tepco officials had earlier said the plant stood up to the magnitude-9 quake and was damaged...
Fukushima may have leaked radiation before tsunami
