# 5441
The IAEA has posted as series of updates on the Fukushima nuclear reactors on their website and their Facebook Page.
You can view the most recent updates at:
Fukushima Nuclear Accident Update Log
Table: Summary of reactor unit status at of 24 March-0600 UTC
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident Update (24 March, 17:30 UTC)
Japanese Seawater Samples Show Signs of Radioactive Materials
Japanese authorities today provided the IAEA with data on seawater samples they collected on 22 and 23 March, after detecting iodine and cesium in the water near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. (See earlier update.)
A vessel from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) collected water samples at several points 30 kilometres from the coastline and found measurable concentrations of iodine-131 and cesium-137.
The iodine concentrations were at or above Japanese regulatory limits, and the cesium levels were well below those limits.
The IAEA's Marine Environmental Laboratory in Monaco has received the data for review.
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident Update (24 March 17:25 UTC)
Japanese Workers Treated for Radiation Exposure
Japanese authorities today reported that three workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were exposed to elevated levels of radiation. The three were working in the turbine building of reactor Unit 3 and have received a radiation dose in the range of 170-180 millisieverts.
Two of the workers have been hospitalized for treatment of severely contaminated feet, which may have suffered radiation burns. The workers had been working for about three hours in contact with contaminated water.
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident Update (24 March 2011, 14:00 UTC)
by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Thursday, March 24, 2011 at 10:29am
Spent Fuel Pools at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant - Updated
Spent fuel removed from a nuclear reactor is highly radioactive and generates heat. This irradiated fuel needs to be stored for one to three years in pools that cool the fuel, shield the radioactivity, and keep the fuel in the proper position to avoid fission reactions. If the cooling is lost, the water can boil and fuel rods can be exposed to the air, possibly leading to severe damage and a large release of radioactive materials.
Nuclear power plants must replace fuel every one to two years, and the Fukushima Daiichi reactors typically remove about 25 percent of the reactor's fuel -- to be replaced with fresh, or unirradiated, fuel -- during each refuelling outage. The spent fuel, which is hottest immediately after it is removed from the reactor, is placed in the spent fuel pool until it is cool enough to be moved to longer-term storage.
The concern about the spent fuel pools at Fukushima Daiichi is that the capability to cool the pools has been compromised. See diagram below for location of the pool in each reactor building.
For more, see...http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/tsunamiupdate01.html
