Sendai: Increase of output delayed (3)

August 21, 2015

Sendai nuclear plant halts output increase

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150821_28.html

Aug. 21, 2015 - Updated 09:59 UTC+2

The operator of Japan's only activated nuclear power plant says it will delay ramping up power output due to reactor equipment trouble.

Kyushu Electric Power Company says an alarm went off on Thursday afternoon indicating trouble with a condenser at the No. 1 reactor of the Sendai power plant in Kagoshima Prefecture. The condenser turns steam from the power turbine back into water. Neither the steam nor the water is radioactive.

The utility says water in one of the reactor's 3 condensers had higher than normal salt concentrations.

Kyushu Electric officials say a small amount of seawater that is used for cooling steam appears to have entered the condenser, possibly through holes in the intake pipes.
They say the salt is being removed while one system within the condenser is halted for inspections. A condenser has 2 systems.

Kyushu Electric says the other condensers are working normally, and that power generation and transmission will continue.

The utility was due to raise power output from 75 percent to 95 percent on Friday, before achieving full capacity on August 25th. It now expects a delay of about one week.

The operator restarted the reactor on August 11th at the Sendai nuclear power plant.

It was the first reactor to go back online under new regulations introduced after the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011.

Kyushu Electric reactor problem halts plan to increase output

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150821p2g00m0dm075000c.html

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Kyushu Electric Power Co. said Friday a nuclear reactor at its Sendai station that came back online last week has experienced problems, promoting the utility to stop increasing its output.

The Sendai No. 1 reactor, located in southwestern Japan, became the first unit on Tuesday last week to be reactivated under upgraded safety regulations adopted in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima meltdowns.

Kyushu Electric will push back its plan to run the reactor at full capacity from next Tuesday after beginning generating and delivering electricity last Friday.

According to the utility, an alarm went off at the plant on Thursday afternoon signaling a problem near the water pumps. Shinjiro Yuge, a senior official at Kyushu Electric's Tokyo branch, said seawater may have entered inside condensate pumps -- which circulate cooling water -- through a hole in one or more of the pipes running through equipment called a condenser.

The company will not halt the operation of the reactor itself, but it will conduct equipment checkups for about a week, Yuge said.

The Sendai No. 1 reactor had been offline since May 2011, when the unit was halted for mandatory regular checkups.

Some nuclear experts have said reactors could face severe safety problems after they have been mothballed for a long time.