Blackout hits Fukushima nuclear plant’s Nos. 1, 2 reactors
Jun. 9, 2011
The crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant suffered power outages at its Nos. 1 and 2 reactors Wednesday, with lights cut off in the units' central control room, and water level and pressure indictors for one of the reactors out of service for more than three hours.
The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., said the blackout did not affect its water injection operation to prevent the crisis from worsening and no evidence of abnormalities was found in data on the No. 2 reactor after power was restored in the evening, but the government urged the utility again to diversify power sources at the six-reactor complex.
The power outage occurred around 2:20 p.m. and electricity began to be restored around 5:30 p.m., the utility known as TEPCO said, adding that it is investigating the cause of the incident.
The plant in Fukushima Prefecture has been crippled since the March 11 quake and tsunami knocked out its power, triggering the country's worst nuclear crisis.
The utility said it found that a power panel linked to locations including the Nos. 1 and 2 reactors' central control room had stopped working around 2:30 p.m.
A system to transfer data from radiation monitoring posts was found to have partially stopped. The blackout also affected the nitrogen supply system for the No. 1 unit's containment vessel aimed at preventing a hydrogen explosion, prompting the operator to stop it manually.
Also Wednesday, TEPCO revealed a plan to leave a door linking the reactor and turbine buildings of the No. 2 unit open later this month to reduce humidity in the reactor building and help improve the efficiency of work in them.
Since radioactive materials within the reactor building could leak to the outside through the open door, the government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency has instructed the utility to report on the expected environmental effects of the move by June 15.
The high level of humidity at the No. 2 unit is apparently due to the evaporation of water from a spent fuel pool in the reactor building and radioactive water believed to have accumulated in the building's basement. The humidity has hampered piping and data measuring work there.
TEPCO also said its President Masataka Shimizu took Masao Yoshida, chief of the crippled plant, to task Monday for not reporting to the head office until late last month that he had ordered the continuation of seawater injections into one of the plant's troubled reactors on March 12.
The delay in notifying the utility's head office led TEPCO to erroneously announce that the injection of water had been suspended for 55 minutes. But the utility said it judged that Yoshida's order in itself was appropriate.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on June 8, 2011)
The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., said the blackout did not affect its water injection operation to prevent the crisis from worsening and no evidence of abnormalities was found in data on the No. 2 reactor after power was restored in the evening, but the government urged the utility again to diversify power sources at the six-reactor complex.
The power outage occurred around 2:20 p.m. and electricity began to be restored around 5:30 p.m., the utility known as TEPCO said, adding that it is investigating the cause of the incident.
The plant in Fukushima Prefecture has been crippled since the March 11 quake and tsunami knocked out its power, triggering the country's worst nuclear crisis.
The utility said it found that a power panel linked to locations including the Nos. 1 and 2 reactors' central control room had stopped working around 2:30 p.m.
A system to transfer data from radiation monitoring posts was found to have partially stopped. The blackout also affected the nitrogen supply system for the No. 1 unit's containment vessel aimed at preventing a hydrogen explosion, prompting the operator to stop it manually.
Also Wednesday, TEPCO revealed a plan to leave a door linking the reactor and turbine buildings of the No. 2 unit open later this month to reduce humidity in the reactor building and help improve the efficiency of work in them.
Since radioactive materials within the reactor building could leak to the outside through the open door, the government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency has instructed the utility to report on the expected environmental effects of the move by June 15.
The high level of humidity at the No. 2 unit is apparently due to the evaporation of water from a spent fuel pool in the reactor building and radioactive water believed to have accumulated in the building's basement. The humidity has hampered piping and data measuring work there.
TEPCO also said its President Masataka Shimizu took Masao Yoshida, chief of the crippled plant, to task Monday for not reporting to the head office until late last month that he had ordered the continuation of seawater injections into one of the plant's troubled reactors on March 12.
The delay in notifying the utility's head office led TEPCO to erroneously announce that the injection of water had been suspended for 55 minutes. But the utility said it judged that Yoshida's order in itself was appropriate.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on June 8, 2011)
