More investigations for leaks at No.1

January 31, 2014

TEPCO to look for more leaks at Fukushima reactor

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20140131_04.html

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is slowly finding out more about the damage at one of the reactor containment vessels. The destruction was caused by 2011 accident.

To cool molten nuclear fuel in their containment vessels the operator is injecting water into the No.1 to 3 reactors. Because the circulation system was destroyed by the accident the water is leaking from the vessels and pooling in the reactor and other connected buildings.

The engineers are investigating leaks in a number of places in the containment vessel that houses the core at the No.1 reactor.

In November, engineers using a camera-equipped robot discovered 2 leaks in lower part of the containment vessel.

They examined the images and other data, and have reached an estimate that up to 3.3 tons of water per hour is leaking from the 2 leaks.

The operator is pouring 4.5 tons of cooling water an hour into the reactor. This means more than one ton of water may be leaking from unknown holes or cracks, as the water does not stay in the containment vessel.

The engineers plan to use another robot to find other possible leaks. They will expand their search to include the suppression chamber linked to the containment vessel through a thick pipe.