Fukushima Radiating at Highest

ThThings are - literally - heating up again at Fukushima:

• Tepco Says Highest Radiation Yet Is Detected at Fukushima Dai-Ichi

• 10+ sieverts per hour means there is direct exposure to fuel rods or spent fuel ponds: Australia’s former top radiation official

• Tepco: Ultra-high radiation levels may be from melted fuel that leaked out of containment vessel

• Paper: TEPCO needs to check if high radiation doses are “spreading elsewhere” — Two more spots appear to be above 10 sieverts per hour, but no plans to actually take measurements

• New indoor radiation dose record at Fukushima ... May be higher as it exceeded capacity of measuring device

• New York Times: Fatal Radiation Level Found at Fukushima — “Exceeded” 10 sieverts per hour, measuring device was maxed out

• Experts: Melt-through scenario means even higher radiation readings to come — Likely many more reports of deadly radiation in future

• Tokyo U. nuke expert: Radioactive substances may have “poured” into pipe during explosion — Levels could also be extremely high outside Reactors No. 3 and 4

• Asahi: Latest detection of such high radiation levels is evidence that radioactive material spewed from Fukushima at much higher levels than previously believed

In related news from Japan:

• Gov’t says 1,500 tons of highly radioactive sludge may end up as “soil for gardening”

• Japan gov’t: Agency funding project to monitor online info about Fukushima crisis — Around the clock monitoring of “blogs on nuclear power” and “Twitter accounts”

• “Collusive relationship” between Japan gov’t and nuclear power industry — U.S. regulators illustrate why it’s so dangerous

But Reuters notes that the world's most hazardous nuclear plant in terms of worker radiation exposure is in the U.S., not Japan. This Reutersgraphic ranks the world's 5 most hazardous plants (Fukushima is only the 5th most hazarde man, who has not made a mistake, probably never did anything new! A E.