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Wikipedia: 15 reactors in areas affected by 3/11 quake — Higashidori nuclear plant lost all external power — Tokai Daini took 4 days to achieve ‘cold shutdown’

Published: May 18th, 2012 at 12:29 am ET
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Corium (nuclear reactor)
Wikipedia

[...] At an estimated eighty minutes after the March 11, 2011 tsunami strike (which caused various nuclear accidents, the worst of which being the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster), the temperatures inside Unit 1 of the Fukushima Daichi Nuclear Power Plant reached 2 300 ˚C to 2 500 ˚C, causing the fuel assembly structures, control rods and nuclear fuel to melt and form corium. The reactor core isolation cooling system (RCIC) was successfully activated for Unit 3, however the Unit 3 RCIC subsequently failed and about 08:00 on March 13 the nuclear fuel had melted into corium. Unit 2 retained RCIC functions slightly longer and corium is not believed to have started to pool on the reactor floor until around 18:00 on March 14 [...]

h/t JoyB

The Wikipedia entry cites Keith Campbell’s report in Engineering News (New Zealand), ‘Lessons from Japan’s nuclear crisis‘ as the source of the above information:

In the affected area, there were five nuclear power stations (NPSes) with 15 reactors between them. These were the Higashidori NPS (one reactor), the Onagawa NPS (three reactors), the Fukushima Dai-ichi NPS (six reactors), the Fukushima Daini NPS (four reactors) and the Tokai Daini NPS (one reactor).

All were affected, to a greater degree or lesser degree, by the earthquake. Three reactors (Onagawa Units 2 and 3 and Fukushima Daini Unit 3) experienced no problems and achieved cold shutdown on March 12 (the day after the earthquake). Three reactors (Fukushima Daini 1, 2 and 4) lost their residual heat removal (RHR) systems, but quickly had temporary cables installed to restore RHR capacity and they reached cold shutdown on March 14 and 15. Two reactors – Onagawa 1 and Tokai Daini – lost their external alternating current (ac) power supply, but switched to emergency diesel generators, and achieved cold shutdown on March 12 and 15. One reactor (Higashidori) was shut down for routine inspection, with its fuel outside the reactor; it lost its external ac supply but switched on its emergency diesel generators. All reactors which had either external ac or emergency diesel generator power achieved cold shutdown.

Short Sharp Science: Japanese nuclear plants survive massive aftershock
Japanese nuclear plants survive massive aftershock
April 7, 2011

Several nuclear plants along Japan’s north east coast have survived a 7.1-magnitude aftershock, the largest since the devastating 9-magnitude quake and tsunami on 11 March. [...]

Although much of northeast Japan was in darkness through power failures and buildings shook violently in Tokyo, 265 kilometres to the south, early reports are that all vulnerable power stations survived. According to The Australian, the nearby Onagawa nuclear plant in Miyagi prefecture, shut down since the original quake, has lost external power to two of its three reactors, but is surviving on the sole remaining source. And Tohoku Electric’s Higashi-Dori nuclear plant in Aomori prefecture in northern Honshu is using a backup generator after losing all external power. [...]

Published: May 18th, 2012 at 12:29 am ET
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May 18th, 2012 | Category: Japan (Fukushima), Onagawa Nuclear Plant
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6 comments to Wikipedia: 15 reactors in areas affected by 3/11 quake — Higashidori nuclear plant lost all external power — Tokai Daini took 4 days to achieve ‘cold shutdown’

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