TEPCO concealed radiation data before explosion at No. 3 reactor – Workers received year’s dose within hours

By Kamome Fujimori, Tatsuyuki Kobori and Yo Noguchi
14 May 2011 Tokyo Electric Power Co. concealed data showing spikes in radiation levels at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in March, one day before a hydrogen explosion injured seven workers. The Asahi Shimbun obtained a 100-page internal TEPCO report containing minute-to-minute data on radiation levels at the plant as well as pressure and water levels inside the No. 3 reactor from March 11 to April 30. The data has never been released by the company that operates the stricken plant. The unpublished information shows that at 1:17 p.m. on March 13, 300 millisieverts of radiation per hour was detected inside a double-entry door at the No. 3 reactor building. At 2:31 p.m., the radiation level was measured at 300 millisieverts or higher per hour to the north of the door. Both levels were well above the upper limit of 250 millisieverts for an entire year under the plant’s safety standards for workers. But the workers who were trying to bring the situation under control at the plant were not informed of the levels. …

TEPCO concealed radiation data before explosion at No. 3 reactor