NRC

Japan

July 8, 2011
4:06 pm EDT

Tagged In:
Earthquake, Fukushima, NEI, NEI Updates: July 2011, NRC, Radiation, Tokyo Electric Power Co., Water

Contaminated Water Levels Beginning to Drop at Fukushima Daiichi

Plant Status

Tokyo Electric Power Co. is continuing preparations to stabilize Fukushima Daiichi’s reactor 3 primary containment vessel. The company is using a robot-mounted camera to check whether a penetration joint is suitable for nitrogen injection that will help stabilize conditions inside the reactor vessel. TEPCO is also checking radiation levels, which have decreased by up to half after installing steel plates on the floor of the working area inside the reactor building. However, radiation levels in the building are still high—up to 5 rem per hour. Read More »

Japan

July 6, 2011
4:16 pm EDT

Tagged In:
Fukushima, NEI Updates: July 2011, NRC, Nuclear Plant Safety, Radiation

Robot Tests Radiation in Fukushima Reactor Building

Plant Status

Work is continuing to reduce radiation levels at Fukushima Daiichi’s reactor 3 building. Tokyo Electric Power Co. has used robots to vacuum radioactive debris and place steel sheets on the floor to decrease the potential for radiation exposure. Pending a reduction in radiation levels, workers are scheduled to enter the building housing the reactor on July 17 to begin installing new piping to inject nitrogen gas into the reactor containment vessel. The inert gas will reduce the possibility of a hydrogen explosion in the containment building. The company already is injecting nitrogen into the containments for reactors 1 and 2. Read More »

Japan

June 29, 2011
4:20 pm EDT

Tagged In:
Earthquake, Fukushima, NRC, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Tokyo Electric Power Co., Water

Cooling System Restarted After Leaks

Plant Status

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has repaired faulty hoses and restarted the new cooling system for the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear energy facility. The system resumed operations after the repair. The system, which on June 27 began circulating decontaminated water through reactors 1, 2 and 3, had developed leaks in pipes and hoses shortly after it was activated. Read More »

Japan

June 27, 2011
5:40 pm EDT

Tagged In:
Earthquake, Fukushima, NRC, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Radiation, Tokyo Electric Power Co., Water

Cooling Water Recycling Partially Restored at Fukushima Daiichi

Plant Status

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has partially restored a cooling water recycling system at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear energy facility. Of the 16 tons of water injected per hour to cool reactors 1, 2 and 3, 13 tons are decontaminated water that has been processed through this system. In its first two weeks of operation, the water treatment system has processed about 1,850 tons of radioactive water that had accumulated at the plant. TEPCO suspended operations a number of times during test runs because of problems with a device that removes radioactive substances and subsequently switched to a different material that absorbs radiation. Goshi Hosono, an adviser to Japanese Prime Minister Kan, said that although the cooling system has not been fully restored from a pump failure last Saturday, the start of recycling cooling water is an important step toward stabilizing the reactors.
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Safety and Security

June 24, 2011
3:46 pm EDT

Tagged In:
NEI, NRC, Nuclear Plant Safety, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, U.S. Nuclear Plants

NEI Responds to Associated Press Series on U.S. Nuclear Power Plant Safety

John Keeley, NEI’s media relations manager, interviews Tony Pietrangelo, NEI’s chief nuclear officer and senior vice president, on the selective reporting, inaccuracies and mischaracterizations in a recent series of articles by The Associated Press on nuclear plant safety and regulatory oversight. For more information, see NEI’s press release “Nuclear Energy Institute Criticizes Shoddy AP Reporting on U.S. Nuclear Power Plant Safety.”