<COMMENT>Magazine</COMMENT>
<P><DC=0,192,0><JC>---TECHNOLOGY TODAY---</JC>
<P><DC=128,128,128><JC>REACTOR FOUR CONTAINED, EFFORTS MOVING FORWARD AT MICRONESIA</JC>
<P>
<P>Several PFC engineers found the reason why the fourth reactor was not able to shut itself down at the Micronesia facility. A faulty computer-control for the reactor's SCRAM system, which is made to shut down the reactor instantly, was blamed to have not been properly functioning. 
<P>
<P>Volunteers from Brightstar and Pacifica Electric Global blocked ventilation systems and set up a makeshift operations center in the control rooms of reactors five and six, which are farther away from the three burning reactors. "It's still dangerous out there." said PEG worker Tajika Mahimoto. "We're reading 250 rems per hour ambient near reactor 3. That means in two hours a person could die if not wearing containment gear." 
<P>
<P>The company most responsible for the containment gear was Cutter Nuclear Technology. The new mechanized suits use a special lead-alloy shielding that is made to stop 100% of Alpha and Beta particles, but it can only stop 50% of the deadly third kind of radiation, Gamma rays. "The hot area in reactors 1, 2, and 3 is 5,000 rems per hour. With a MK2 suit, you'll get 50 rems in less then two minutes. The max there for a worker is three minutes."