Information Bulletin No. 5
(March 16, 2011 11:00 AM)

• All reactor vessels of Units 1,2 and 3 remain intact . Containment vessels for Units 1 and 3 are also intact. And while the suppression chamber of Unit 2 is damaged, the rest of its containment unit remain intact.

• Condition of cooling systems in Unit 1, 2 and 3 of the Daiichi reactors still not normal but under control.

• There are no indications that spent fuel assemblies in the storage ponds in all Units have been exposed.

• Radiation level at the plant’s main gate is measured at 0.6 mSv.

• Current weather information continues to indicate that wind patterns coming from the Japan Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant have been moving away from the Japan coast towards the East. This would mean that winds which may carry any radioactive materials from the affected nuclear plants will not affect any part of the Philippines. The same wind patterns are predicted for the next three days.

• The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in coordination with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is monitoring the weather situation at the affected nuclear plants and the possible effects on neighboring countries. The WMO is providing data to the IAEA using its Regional Specialized Meteorological Centers in Asia based in Beijing, China; Tokyo, Japan; and Obninsk, Russia. The information is provided to the IAEA and national meteorological and hydrological services in order to provide advice to the respective government agencies which manage nuclear safety and nuclear emergency response activities. In the Philippines, the WMO provides information to the PAGASA which provides advice to the DOST-PNRI, NDRRMC and other agencies regarding wind patterns.

• The DOST-PNRI is continuing to monitor the situation in Japan with the help of information being disseminated on a 24-hour basis by the IAEA. This arrangement is part of requirements under the International Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident. The Philippines is a party to this Convention which entitles the country to early receipt of relevant information of nuclear accidents occurring in neighboring countries. Japan continues to provide detailed information to the IAEA which in turn distributes these to countries on a 24-hour basis through its national contact persons, which in the Philippines is the Director of the DOST-PNRI.

• In spite of latest reports of fire on the spent fuel storage facility and release of radioactivity and another explosion on a third nuclear plant, the situation remains the same as far as the effect on the Philippines is concerned. Any significant effect is limited only within the power station boundary and immediate vicinity.

• The DOST-PNRI emphasizes that there remains no immediate threat to the Philippines.

• Latest DOST-PNRI RADIATION LEVEL CHECK: As of 9:00 AM March 16, 2011; 89–120 nSv (nanoSievert) per hour.

• STATUS: NORMAL

• For more queries, pls call DOST-PNRI Emergency Response Center at 929-4719 or 920-8738 or log on to the following: http://www.pnri.dost.gov.ph, http://www.dost.gov.ph, http://www.stii.dost.gov.ph, or http://www.science.ph.