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Japan nuclear agency says No. 1 reactor container may be leaking — Problem revealed after “unprecedented and potentially risky” flooding operation began

Published: April 26th, 2011 at 4:43 am ET
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Nuke agency says water may be leaking from No. 1 reactor container, Kyodo, April 26, 2011 at 3:29 am EDT:

The government’s nuclear agency said Tuesday that water may be leaking from the No. 1 reactor container of the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, and that remote-controlled robots are expected to check the situation inside the reactor building.

The possible water leakage is likely to affect work to flood the reactor’s primary container with water [...]

Read the report here.

TEPCO filling containment vessels; experts raise doubts, Asahi Shimbun, April 26, 2011:

[Emphasis Added]

Tokyo Electric Power Co. started the unprecedented and potentially risky measure of allowing water to flood the containment vessels of three troubled reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, company sources said.

It is the world’s first attempt to saturate the entire containment vessel with water [...]

So far, TEPCO has been injecting water into the pressure vessels at the No. 1 through No. 3 reactors. Under the new plan, TEPCO will allow the water to overflow from the pressure vessels through valves and ruptured pipes until the water fills the outer containment vessels. [...]

The water level at the No. 1 reactor has been raised to about 6 meters above the bottom of the containment vessel. That level is 3 meters below the bottom of the pressure vessel. [...]

Industry specialists have raised doubts about the effects and safety of TEPCO’s new operation.

Since the concrete-made building of the No. 1 reactor may have been weakened by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami as well as aftershocks, it might not be able to bear the weight of the water, which will reach up to 7,400 tons. TEPCO said it is re-calculating the structural strength of the building. [...]

Read the report here.

Published: April 26th, 2011 at 4:43 am ET
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Related Posts

  1. Hardly any water in Reactor No. 1 after flooding effort — “Containment vessel is likely to be broken and leaking” May 12, 2011
  2. TEPCO analysis indicates Reactor No. 1 and 2 have breached containment vessels meant to stop radiation from leaking May 25, 2011
  3. Japan researchers believe Reactor No. 1 filled with steam — Gas leaking from upper part May 23, 2012
  4. Japan’s worst-case scenario assumed “significant public exposure” to occur by end of March 12 because of pressure buildup that would damage No. 1 reactor container — Explosion at No. 1 happened March 12 May 3, 2011
  5. Fukushima Whistleblower: Container vessel melting like honeycomb — “Can you believe it is out of the container vessel”? (PHOTOS) January 3, 2012
April 26th, 2011 | Tags: , , , , , | Category: Reactor No. 1
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