Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Dec. 6 it detected the highest estimated radiation level for an outdoor location at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Dec. 6 it detected the highest estimated radiation level for an outdoor location at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
The reading of 25 sieverts per hour was taken on steel piping near an exhaust stack for the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors, TEPCO said.
The utility earlier said high radiation levels of at least 10 sieverts per hour were found on the piping.
TEPCO measured airborne radiation at eight locations around the piping to calculate surface radiation on two spots with particularly high readings, and found about 25 sieverts per hour and about 15 sieverts per hour, the company said.
A TEPCO official said radioactive materials derived from melted fuel likely entered the piping during venting soon after the accident occurred in March 2011 and have remained there.