By DPA,
Tokyo : High levels of radiation in water forced engineers to suspend their work Friday at two reactors at a nuclear power station in northeastern Japan.
The workers had to stop their efforts to restore key cooling functions at reactors No.1 and No.2 at the power plant in Fukushima whose power was knocked out by a magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami March 11, leading to overheating of its six reactors, explosions, fires and release of radioactive material.
Radiation-contaminated water that three workers were exposed to at the plant Thursday was 10,000 times the normal level, said Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), the plant’s operator.
The three workers’ radiation exposure was believed to have been at levels amounting to 173 to 180 millisieverts. Two of the three workers were hospitalized and diagnosed as having sustained beta ray radiation burns to their legs. The injuries were caused by direct exposure to beta rays, TEPCO said.