No new abnormalities observed at troubled Fukushima nuke plant
Apr. 8, 2011
No new problems have surfaced at the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant or at another plant in Fukushima Prefecture, following the strongest aftershock late Thursday since the deadly earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan last month.
A spent nuclear fuel disposal facility in the village of Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, lost external power supply and switched to an emergency generator but power was restored at 9:44 a.m. Friday, according to the government's nuclear safety agency.
The Higashidori nuclear power plant in another village in Aomori also got power from an emergency generator after the 11:32 p.m. quake, but its external power supply was restored at 3:30 a.m. Friday, according to its operator Tohoku Electric Power Co. and the government's countermeasure headquarters.
No changes in radiation readings have been observed at any of the facilities, including Fukushima Daini, a nuclear power plant just south of Daiichi, both operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co. Nor is there any information that radioactive materials have leaked due to the aftershock.
Higashidori's only reactor was undergoing regular maintenance at the time of the temblor, and its fuel rods were not inside the core but were stored in a spent fuel pool, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said.
Tohoku Electric's Onagawa nuclear power station in Miyagi Prefecture, which has been suspended since the March 11 quake, lost two of its three external power connections, with its cooling system for spent the nuclear fuel pools temporarily stopped.
Tokyo Electric said no new abnormalities have developed in any of the six reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi, which it has struggled to bring under control since the plant was crippled by the deadly quake and tsunami and began spewing radioactive materials into the environment.
No workers at the plant were hurt in the aftershock, the power supplier said, adding that its damage control steps of pumping fresh water into the No. 1 to No. 3 reactors to prevent them from overheating and injecting nitrogen into the No. 1 unit to prevent hydrogen from exploding were unaffected.
The quake late Thursday, focused about 40 kilometers off the coast of Miyagi, measured upper 6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in northern and central parts of the prefecture, the area hit hard by last month's quake.
Meanwhile, Tokyo Electric continued to release relatively low-level radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean to make room for far more contaminated water that has flooded the basement of the No. 2 reactor's turbine building.
Once the utility finishes releasing the low contaminated water, it will check a facility that had held the water to see if there are any cracks to ensure that there would be no leakage when the more contaminated water is diverted there.
The turbine building needs to be cleared of radioactive water to restore sustainable cooling systems for the No. 2 reactor, which lost normal cooling functions and suffered a partial meltdown of the core since the deadly quake last month, along with the No. 1 and No. 3 reactors.
The No. 4 reactor had no fuel in its core but suffered a loss of cooling functions for its fuel pool. The No. 5 and No. 6 reactors have since been brought to a stable condition.
On Friday, the power company reinforced the earth around a cracked pit, from which highly radioactive water had leaked into the sea before it was successfully plugged by injecting sodium silicate, a chemical agent known as ''water glass.''
Since the leakage had stopped, the company observed about a 7-centimeter rise in the level of contaminated water in a vertical tunnel connected to the No. 2 reactor building, from which the tainted water is believed to have originated.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on April 8, 2011)
A spent nuclear fuel disposal facility in the village of Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, lost external power supply and switched to an emergency generator but power was restored at 9:44 a.m. Friday, according to the government's nuclear safety agency.
The Higashidori nuclear power plant in another village in Aomori also got power from an emergency generator after the 11:32 p.m. quake, but its external power supply was restored at 3:30 a.m. Friday, according to its operator Tohoku Electric Power Co. and the government's countermeasure headquarters.
No changes in radiation readings have been observed at any of the facilities, including Fukushima Daini, a nuclear power plant just south of Daiichi, both operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co. Nor is there any information that radioactive materials have leaked due to the aftershock.
Higashidori's only reactor was undergoing regular maintenance at the time of the temblor, and its fuel rods were not inside the core but were stored in a spent fuel pool, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said.
Tohoku Electric's Onagawa nuclear power station in Miyagi Prefecture, which has been suspended since the March 11 quake, lost two of its three external power connections, with its cooling system for spent the nuclear fuel pools temporarily stopped.
Tokyo Electric said no new abnormalities have developed in any of the six reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi, which it has struggled to bring under control since the plant was crippled by the deadly quake and tsunami and began spewing radioactive materials into the environment.
No workers at the plant were hurt in the aftershock, the power supplier said, adding that its damage control steps of pumping fresh water into the No. 1 to No. 3 reactors to prevent them from overheating and injecting nitrogen into the No. 1 unit to prevent hydrogen from exploding were unaffected.
The quake late Thursday, focused about 40 kilometers off the coast of Miyagi, measured upper 6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in northern and central parts of the prefecture, the area hit hard by last month's quake.
Meanwhile, Tokyo Electric continued to release relatively low-level radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean to make room for far more contaminated water that has flooded the basement of the No. 2 reactor's turbine building.
Once the utility finishes releasing the low contaminated water, it will check a facility that had held the water to see if there are any cracks to ensure that there would be no leakage when the more contaminated water is diverted there.
The turbine building needs to be cleared of radioactive water to restore sustainable cooling systems for the No. 2 reactor, which lost normal cooling functions and suffered a partial meltdown of the core since the deadly quake last month, along with the No. 1 and No. 3 reactors.
The No. 4 reactor had no fuel in its core but suffered a loss of cooling functions for its fuel pool. The No. 5 and No. 6 reactors have since been brought to a stable condition.
On Friday, the power company reinforced the earth around a cracked pit, from which highly radioactive water had leaked into the sea before it was successfully plugged by injecting sodium silicate, a chemical agent known as ''water glass.''
Since the leakage had stopped, the company observed about a 7-centimeter rise in the level of contaminated water in a vertical tunnel connected to the No. 2 reactor building, from which the tainted water is believed to have originated.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on April 8, 2011)
