Japan reactor pumps knocked out
A rescuer looks out over debris and rubble in Minamisanriku, Miyagi prefecture, on March 22, 2011, 11 days after the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
PressTv
Tue Mar 22, 2011
Efforts to restore electrical power and cool the overheating reactors at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant suffer a setback after water pumps from reactor No.2 were found to be damaged beyond repair.
According to Japan’s official Kyodo news agency, reactor No.2 has faced a cooling failure due to damage to the reactor’s containment structure.
Some reports say the reactor’s cooling system has been permanently knocked out as a result of the 8.9-magnitude quake and the following tsunami which devastated Japan’s northeastern coast.
Japanese authorities are accusing Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) which owns the Fukushima plant of withholding information about safety violations and submitting “false” reports to inspectors.
According to the latest update by Japan’s National Police Agency, death toll from the quake reached 9,080 in 12 prefectures, while the number of missing came to 13,561 in six prefectures.
Work to restore power and cool down spent nuclear fuel pools at the quake-stricken nuclear power plant resumed Tuesday after being interrupted twice within 24 hours due to steam and smoke rising from the No. 2 and No. 3 reactor buildings.
Radiation levels spiked briefly, and engineers were told to leave the plant.
Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa told a news conference that he believes the smoke rising from the No. 2 reactor is vapor caused by water-discharging operations and that blackish smoke was briefly detected Tuesday at the No. 3 reactor as some rubble caught fire following the rise in temperature, Kyodo News Agency reported.
In reactor No.3, seawater is being pumped in to cool the heating systems amid fears of a partial melting of the core.
Experts consider any damage to the third reactor as potentially dangerous as the fuel rods are made of uranium and plutonium, which is highly toxic.
External power source has reached all the six reactors except for No. 3.
Industry Minister Banri Kaieda acknowledged during a press conference earlier Tuesday that progress in electricity restoration was good news, but the situation involving the reactors remained ”extremely tough.”
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