NHK...

The Tokyo Electric Power Company is preparing to open the doors of the Number 1 reactor building at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
The move is necessary to restore the reactor's cooling system and may take place as early as Sunday afternoon.

TEPCO says a small amount of radioactive substances are expected to be released into the air for about one hour.

The company says it will first obtain approval from the government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency and confirm that there will be very little impact on the surrounding environment. Then it will open the two-tired doors of the reactor building.

On Thursday, TEPCO activated a new air-filtering system in the Number 1 Reactor building, which was installed to remove radioactive substances.

The utility says that by early Saturday morning, the density of radioactive material in the air had fallen to about 10 percent the target level.

TEPCO says after opening the doors, possibly on Sunday afternoon, it plans to remove highly radioactive contaminated debris.

Then, workers will enter the building to begin restoring the Number 1 Reactor cooling system.

Sunday, May 08, 2011 01:25 +0900 (JST)