TEPCO officials attempted to peer inside the damaged #2 Fukushima reactor this week but couldn’t discern the level of destruction on account of all the Gamma radiation present. Good thing they didn’t lower Bruce Banner in there.
While there was a fair amount of steam and regular radiation also clouding the video feed, the robotic camera and thermometer rig officials lowered in was able to record important information on the health of the reactor. It found pipes corroded by high humidity levels—the reactor’s interior is a balmy 112-degrees Fahrenheit—though it could not confirm the amount of water present.
Determining the water level is of critical importance since the reactor had previously been inundated with an estimated four meters of sea water which is now keeping the reactor’s nuclear rods submerged and sub-critical. You can actually see the Gamma radiation in the film as out-of-focus light streaks. [PBS News Hour via BoingBoing]
