Progress

October 4, 2012

Crippled Reactor 2 in Fukushima No. 1 gets new thermometer

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20121004a6.html

Kyodo

Tepco installed a new thermometer Wednesday at the bottom of the No. 2 reactor pressure vessel at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, succeeding in increasing the number of devices that can properly monitor the temperature of that area to two.

The thermometers are important for Tokyo Electric Power Co. to check the condition of the reactor, which has suffered a meltdown, as six of the seven thermometers at the bottom of the vessel have not been functional.

The new thermometer showed that the temperature was 42.6 degrees as of 11 a.m., not much different from the data taken by the remaining device, which stood at 46.1 degrees.

Reactors 1 and 3, which also contain melted fuel, each have more than five normally functioning thermometers at the bottom of their pressure vessels.

Tepco also compiled a report on an incident Sept. 22 when a 7-meter-long iron frame dropped inside the spent fuel pool of the No. 3 reactor while removing debris from the upper floor of the reactor building.

Tepco concluded the incident did not damage the fuel assemblies stored in the pool after confirming through an underwater camera that the iron frame is not directly touching them.

It also said the incident occurred partly because workers did not notice that the iron frame was moving from its original position when they were trying to cut another iron frame.

The upper part of the reactor building was severely destroyed by a hydrogen explosion that occurred in the early days of the nuclear crisis in March 2011.

Fukushima plant's reactor No.2 has new thermometer

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20121004_15.html

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has installed a new thermometer inside its Number 2 reactor. Monitoring efforts continue at the facility that was declared in a state of cold shutdown last year.

Tokyo Electric Power Company fitted the thermometer on Wednesday. Only one device out of the existing 5 has been working properly near the bottom of the reactor's pressure vessel.

The thermometer showed 42.7 degrees Celsius. An existing device nearby has been measuring 45.8 degrees.

The company says it will use the new device for regular monitoring after ensuring its reliability.