Another Japan nuclear reactor fails
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-japan-quake-sixth-reactor-20110313,0,3146984.story
A third reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 plant loses its emergency cooling capacity, bringing to six the number of reactors that have failed at the two Fukushima nuclear power plants since the earthquake and tsunami.
The damaged roof of reactor number No. 1 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant after an explosion that blew off the upper part of the structure is seen in this handout photo released by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan. (Reuters / March 12, 2011)
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Another nuclear reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 facility in Japan has lost its emergency cooling capacity, according to the Associated Press, bringing to three the number of reactors at that facility to fall prey to Friday's magnitude 8.9 earthquake and tsunami. Added to failure of three reactors at Fukushima No. 2, the count is now six overall.
So far, the only reactor that seems to pose an immediate risk of widespread danger is one of the two shut-down reactors at Fukushima No. 1, also known as Fukushima Daiichi, which was disabled by an explosion overnight that destroyed the building housing the reactor and the backup cooling system.
However, officials with Tokyo Electric Power Co., which owns the facilities about 150 miles northeast of Tokyo, reported to the International Atomic Energy Agency on Saturday that the reactor containment vessel, which houses the radioactive core, remained intact and that they were pumping seawater into the vessel to cool it. The action seems to be working, officials said, and there have been no further reports of radiation escaping from the site.
As part of an automatic safety procedure, control rods were inserted into the cores of the reactors following the earthquake, which stops production of electricity. But the cores continue to generate heat for several days after shutdown and must be continuously cooled by pumping water over them and through cooling towers.
Backup generators powering the pumps at the first five disabled reactors failed almost immediately after the earthquake, apparently inactivated by exposure to seawater from the tsunami that swept through the seaside plants. The facilities had to rely on backup batteries that last up to eight hours until additional batteries and generators could be brought in.
Although the company has released no details about the sixth reactor, it appears the diesel generators there worked for a couple of days before they too finally gave out.
More than 170,000 people have been evacuated from an area within a 12-mile radius of Fukushima No. 1 and within a six-mile radius of Fukushima No. 2, also known as Fukushima Daini, which is about seven miles down the coast from No. 1.
thomas.maugh@latimes.com
Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times
Comments (3)
Add / View comments | Discussion FAQHow do you live on the most earthquake prone area in the world and think it's ok to build nuclear reactors??
I am stunned at the way big business has rammed nuclear power down people's thorats for decades...and maybe this will give pause to someof the thinking that's safe.
I certainly hope the containment vessel holds and no radiation is released.
I believe this will make any expansion of nuclear energy in the U.S. less likely. I fail to see why we do not consider more development of hydropower, especially in the Pacific Northwest. And we should immediately begin drilling for additional oil and natural gas.
> an explosion overnight that
This is wrong:
> destroyed the building housing the reactor
> and the backup cooling system.
Better info and picture available here: http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Battle_to_stabilise_earthquake_reactors_1203111.html
"Later television shots showed a naked steel frame remaining at the top of the reactor building. The external building structure does not act as the containment"
What blew off was the walls and roof held up by that steel frame. That was on top of -- up above -- the concrete part of the building -- it's visible in the pictures. That was walls and a roof that sheltered the crane used in refueling. Under that, still in place holding up the exposed steel frame, is the
"central reactor vessel and thick concrete containment"
"Chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano appeared on television to clarify that the explosion had damaged the walls and roof of the reactor building but had not compromised the containment."
