Land Of The Rising Core Temperature, Part 17

Radiation leaking from Fukushima Daiichi reactor #2 is so bad now that workers have been evacuated from the control room area.

Extremely high levels of radiation were detected in water leaking from reactor two of the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, forcing the evacuation of workers, its operator said Sunday.

A spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) said the level of radiation found in the leaked water in the turbine room was 10 million times higher than it should be for water inside the reactor, indicating damage to the fuel rods.

"We detected 1,000 millisieverts per hour of radiation in a puddle of water at the reactor number two. This figure is 10 million times higher than water usually kept in a reactor," the spokesman said.

"We are examining the cause of this, but no work is being done there because of the high level of radiation.

"High levels of caesium and other substances are being detected, which usually should not be found in reactor water. There is a high possibility that fuel rods are being damaged."

You think?   TEPCO says the radiation is coming from Iodine-134, which has a half-life of days, so there's "little chance" of it surviving long enough to cause harm outside the plant.  Of course, if radioactive iodine is loose at all, that definitely means the fuel rods are damaged.  Best part:

The company became aware of the high radiation in the turbine building of the No. 2 unit, a Tokyo Electric official said, when a worker attempting to measure radiation levels of the water puddles saw the reading on his dosimeter jump beyond 1,000 millisieverts, the highest reading. The worker left the scene immediately, and the company does not have an accurate reading, he said. 

At this point, after 16 days, it looks like TEPCO has lost control of at least one reactor. More may follow.  The cooling equipment may be back on-line to an extent, but it's not going to be enough.  The odds that Fukushima Daiichi will have to be buried is approaching "just a matter of when they admit defeat" territory.

[UPDATE]  TEPCO officials are now saying that these very high radiation readings were "completely wrong".

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) vice-president Sakae Muto apologized for Sunday's error, which added to alarm inside and outside Japan over the impact of contamination from the complex which was hit by an earthquake and tsunami on March 11.

Radiation in the water was a still worrying 100,000 times higher than normal, rather than 10 million times higher as originally stated, Muto said.

Yeah, it's a mistake anyone could make.