Radiation levels inside a damaged reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station are at their highest since the plant suffered a triple meltdown almost six years ago.The facility’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), said atmospheric readings as high as 530 sieverts an hour had been recorded inside the containment vessel of reactor No 2, one of three reactors that experienced a meltdown when the plant was crippled by a huge tsunami that struck the north-east coast of Japan in March 2011. The plant operator also announced that based on an image analysis, a 1-square-meter hole has been found on a metal grating beneath the reactor pressure vessel, likely caused by melted nuclear fuel that fell through the vessel. In March 2011, multiple reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant spiraled out of control after a 42-foot tsunami overwhelmed the plant’s sea walls, rendering the vital systems used to cool the plant’s six reactors inoperable.
According to Tokyo Electric Power Company, radiations levels within one of the reactors of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, damaged by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011, are at its highest level since experiencing a meltdown, with a reading of 530 sieverts an hour.