Toshiba sends engineers to Fukushima nuclear power plant
TOKYO, March 16, Kyodo
Toshiba Corp. said Tuesday it has sent engineers to the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant at the request of the government and Tokyo Electric Power Co., aiming to address the problems at the quake-hit facility amid growing fears of radioactive contamination.
The company said dozens of its engineers are set to instruct workers at the plant operated by TEPCO about the usage of pumps to inject water into the plant’s reactors, adding the firm has already sent motors to activate the pumps at the facility.
Toshiba, which supplied much of the equipment for the Fukushima No. 1 power plant’s reactors such as the No. 3 reactor, will consider sending more engineers if necessary, it added.
While Toshiba has around 350 engineers who support electric power companies, two-thirds of them are currently dealing with accidents at the Fukushima nuclear power plant at Toshiba’s headquarters or at the actual site.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Naoto Kan instructed Toshiba President Norio Sasaki to do all he can to contain the problems at the plant.
Hitachi Ltd., which was in charge of constructing the No. 4 reactor at the No. 1 plant, has also sent more than 10 engineers to the central office of TEPCO to respond to technical questions.
From Reuters Live Blog:
The U.N. nuclear watchdog chief said there might be limited core damage at the No. 2 unit of the Fukushima power plant.
Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told a news conference that there was a “possibility of core damage” at unit 2. “The damage is estimated to be less than 5 pct.”
5%?? Is that the amount of the core they believe may have melted?