Sharp radiation spike found at Fukushima

FUKUSHIMA, Japan, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Extremely high radiation has been recorded on a pipe at the Fukushima nuclear plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co. says.

Workers detected radiation exceeding 10 sieverts per hour on the pipe, which links the containment vessels of the No. 1 and 2 reactors to a main exhaust stack, Sunday while using a camera to observe it remotely, Tepco told The Yomiuri Shimbun.

Exposure to such radiation will cause illness within minutes. A sievert measures the biological effect of a radiation dose.

The highest radiation seen before was 4 sieverts per hour inside the No. 1 reactor building, and the three workers who measured the radiation were exposed to that level.

Tepco executive Junichi Matsumoto said Monday, "It's possible that radioactive substances released when the No. 1 reactor vents were opened on March 12 [the day after the earthquake] might have accumulated inside the pipe."