ID :
182005
Fri, 05/13/2011 - 17:09
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/182005
The shortlink copeid
Kaieda notes need to review Fukushima plant recovery road map
TOKYO (Kyodo) - Industry minister Banri Kaieda said Friday it is necessary to review the restoration road map unveiled last month for the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant by its operator, following the latest findings indicating a meltdown of the No. 1 reactor fuel.
''I believe it is a big factor requiring changes to Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s road map toward the settlement'' of the natural disaster-induced nuclear emergency, Kaieda told reporters. The utility known as TEPCO aims to bring the crisis under control within six to nine months in line with the road map released on April 17.
Kaieda said TEPCO is expected to reexamine the road map a month after its release with the latest findings.
On Thursday, the company said data taken by adjusted measuring gauges showed that the level of water inside the troubled No. 1 reactor was unexpectedly low, hinting that a large part of the fuel has melted after being fully exposed. It also said small holes are believed to have been created at the bottom of the reactor's pressure vessel where the melted fuel settled.
TEPCO believes that the melted fuel is being kept cool with the water at the vessel's bottom, but the findings indicate that massive amounts of water pumped into the reactor as an emergency measure may have leaked out to the outer primary container, as well as to the reactor building and the adjacent turbine building.
Goshi Hosono, special adviser to Prime Minister Naoto Kan, told a joint press conference with TEPCO and other government officials that the condition of the fuel can be called what the government's nuclear agency defines as ''meltdown'' if the data is correct.
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency echoed such a view, but added that it wants to continue to check other data before officially reaching a conclusion because the latest data show ''discontinuity'' compared with other past data.
The utility had earlier estimated that 55 percent of the No. 1 reactor core has been damaged.
The Nos. 1 to 4 units at the six-reactor plant have needed injection of water from outside to prevent the nuclear fuel inside from overheating, given that their key cooling functions were lost after the plant on the Pacific coast was hit by the March 11 megaquake and tsunami.
But vast pools of water containing radioactive substances have been found at the plant's premises as a side effect of the water-injection measure. Such contaminated water has hampered work to restore the plant.
TEPCO official Junichi Matsumoto said earlier that the utility's current efforts to create a water circulation system to stably keep the fuel cool at the No. 1 unit may be subject to change if the water level in the container of the pressure vessel is lower than the point where water is expected to be sucked out.
Matsumoto also said that installation of pipes for the water circulation system may be delayed due to high radiation levels at some points in the No. 1 unit, as TEPCO will be required to set up radiation-shielding mats.
TEPCO plans to start in June installing a polyester cover around the whole building housing the No. 1 reactor as a stopgap measure to prevent radioactive substances from further spreading out to the environment, according to Matsumoto.
The cover, when completed, is expected to be 47 meters long, 42 meters wide and 55 meters high.
Similar steps are to be taken for the Nos. 1, 3 and 4 reactor buildings, which have suffered damage in their roofs and walls as a result of hydrogen explosions and other causes in the early days of the nuclear crisis.
''I believe it is a big factor requiring changes to Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s road map toward the settlement'' of the natural disaster-induced nuclear emergency, Kaieda told reporters. The utility known as TEPCO aims to bring the crisis under control within six to nine months in line with the road map released on April 17.
Kaieda said TEPCO is expected to reexamine the road map a month after its release with the latest findings.
On Thursday, the company said data taken by adjusted measuring gauges showed that the level of water inside the troubled No. 1 reactor was unexpectedly low, hinting that a large part of the fuel has melted after being fully exposed. It also said small holes are believed to have been created at the bottom of the reactor's pressure vessel where the melted fuel settled.
TEPCO believes that the melted fuel is being kept cool with the water at the vessel's bottom, but the findings indicate that massive amounts of water pumped into the reactor as an emergency measure may have leaked out to the outer primary container, as well as to the reactor building and the adjacent turbine building.
Goshi Hosono, special adviser to Prime Minister Naoto Kan, told a joint press conference with TEPCO and other government officials that the condition of the fuel can be called what the government's nuclear agency defines as ''meltdown'' if the data is correct.
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency echoed such a view, but added that it wants to continue to check other data before officially reaching a conclusion because the latest data show ''discontinuity'' compared with other past data.
The utility had earlier estimated that 55 percent of the No. 1 reactor core has been damaged.
The Nos. 1 to 4 units at the six-reactor plant have needed injection of water from outside to prevent the nuclear fuel inside from overheating, given that their key cooling functions were lost after the plant on the Pacific coast was hit by the March 11 megaquake and tsunami.
But vast pools of water containing radioactive substances have been found at the plant's premises as a side effect of the water-injection measure. Such contaminated water has hampered work to restore the plant.
TEPCO official Junichi Matsumoto said earlier that the utility's current efforts to create a water circulation system to stably keep the fuel cool at the No. 1 unit may be subject to change if the water level in the container of the pressure vessel is lower than the point where water is expected to be sucked out.
Matsumoto also said that installation of pipes for the water circulation system may be delayed due to high radiation levels at some points in the No. 1 unit, as TEPCO will be required to set up radiation-shielding mats.
TEPCO plans to start in June installing a polyester cover around the whole building housing the No. 1 reactor as a stopgap measure to prevent radioactive substances from further spreading out to the environment, according to Matsumoto.
The cover, when completed, is expected to be 47 meters long, 42 meters wide and 55 meters high.
Similar steps are to be taken for the Nos. 1, 3 and 4 reactor buildings, which have suffered damage in their roofs and walls as a result of hydrogen explosions and other causes in the early days of the nuclear crisis.
