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From: Sent: To: Subject:

ET07 Hoc Wednesday, April 06, 2011 4:24 PM Glitter, Joseph FW:

----- Original Message ----From: Burnell, Scott Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2011 12:46 PM To: ET07 Hoc Subject: Fw.:

Sent from an NRC Blackberry Scott Burnell

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Original Message --------From: Tracy, Tennille <Ten nille.Tracy@dowjones.com> To: Burnell, Scott Sent: Wed Apr 06 12:09:45 2011 Subject: RE: Rep. Markey's office has just released the e-mail they received from NRC on this issue. The e-mail comes from Timothy Riley. The e-mail is dated Tuesday, April 5, and states:

>You had asked if the core of Unit 2 had melted into the torus. Here is >the view from the NRC Emergency Operations Center: >Based on radiation readings in the drywell and the torus (3340 rem/hour >and 91 rem/hour, respectively), the NRC staff speculates that part of the >Unit 2 core may be out of the reactor pressure vessel and may be in the >lower space of the drywell. Lower radiation readings in the torus >suggest that there is not core material in the torus. Is Markey's office interpreting this correctly? The e-mail - "that part of the Unit 2 core may be out of the reactor pressure vessel and may be in the lower space of the drywell" - suggests that NRC does in fact believe the core has melted through the reactor vessel. Was Martin Virgilio wrong when he said NRC had no evidence that the core had melted through the vessel? What is the belief of the NRC? Are there conflicting opinions within NRC? .... I'm getting a ton of pressure from editors to sort this out.

Thanks, t
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From: Burnell, Scott [Scott.Burnell@nrc.gov] Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2011 11:49 AM To: Tracy, Tennille Subject: RE: Hi Tennille; Please refer to the hearing transcript for Marty Virgilio's response to that statement, that speaks for the agency on this issue. Thanks. Scott Original Message --------From: Tracy, Tennille [mailto:Tennille.Tracy@dowjones.com] Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2011 11:44 AM To: Burnell, Scott Subject: RE: Hi ... I'm sure you're getting tons of emails on this now ... But Rep. Ed Markey is saying that the core of at least one unit at Fukushima (Unit Two) has melted through the reactor vessel. Martin Virgilio, who was at the hearing where Markey was speaking, said this is not the case. He said there was no evidence of this in the situation reports from this-morning. Do we have any evidence that the core has breached the reactor vessel? Did NRC staff tell Markey that this had taken place?

From: Burnell, Scott [Scott.Burnell@nrc.gov] Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2011 11:09 AM To: Burnell, Scott. Cc: Brenner, Eliot; Hayden, Elizabeth Subject:

Good Morning;

Here is the NRC response to the NY Times article:

The March 26 document represented an interim snapshot of what NRC staff and other experts considered as possible conditions inside the damaged units at Fukushima-Daiichi; the document does not reflect our understanding of the current situation. Based on those possible conditions, the NRC staff's recommendations should be considered prudent
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measures; they are not offered as the only possible solutions. We shared those recommendations with the Japanese operator and regulator of the plants. We understand they are pursuing an alternative set of strategies to control the plants and ensure the safety of the people working at the plants and living nearby. We are working with our counterparts to consider these strategies and explore additional steps that could enhance safety.

If the NRC has any further comment, you'll be informed via e-mail. Thank you.

Scott Burnell