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Electric power partially restored at Japan nuclear plant
The Los Angeles Times | March 19, 2011 | Thomas H. Maugh II

Posted on 03/19/2011 9:49:22 PM PDT by SteveH

Engineers had run a power line to the Fukushima Daiichi plant, 150 miles north of Tokyo, from the country's electrical grid Friday night, but connecting it to the buildings at the facility has been a bigger problem than anticipated. Workers have been able to spend only limited amounts of time in the facility to make the connections, and engineers have had to laboriously go through and check all the circuitry before power is turned on to ensure that a surge of current does not create more problems than it solves.

Officials of the company had said they hoped to get power restored to all of the six buildings at the facility by Sunday, but that estimate now seems overly optimistic. Engineers have been focusing their efforts on reactors No. 2 and 3 and the building housing reactor No. 4, which also houses a damaged spent fuel pool, but the need to build shelters to protect workers and equipment from the water that was being sprayed, as well as the radiation, delayed efforts.

Reactor No. 2 is thought to have a cracked containment vessel and is thus believed to be potentially the most problematic reactor. Reactor No. 3 is not known to be damaged, but its fuel rods contain a mixture of uranium and plutonium. Plutonium is highly carcinogenic in even very small quantities, and a leak of the material would be considered disastrous.

The pool at reactor No. 4 has the hottest spent fuel and is thought to have either holes in the walls of the pool or some other type of leak that is allowing water to run out. It is thus imperative to cool those heat sources first.


TOPICS: Japan; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bwr; fukushima
small tidbits of potentially new? info
1 posted on 03/19/2011 9:49:23 PM PDT by SteveH
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To: SteveH

Sounds like they’re slowly getting the situation under control.

Not that the MSM (or many FReepers) will care.


2 posted on 03/19/2011 9:55:38 PM PDT by Terpfen (Buh-bye, Suntan Charlie.)
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To: SteveH
Electric power partially restored at Japan nuclear plant

Either I missed something, or this headline is misleading. The article says nothing about any electricity being available at the plant. It does talk about a host of problems that is delaying the turning on of power. It is clear that the latest plan to get power turned on is not going to happen.

Methinks that now that Obama has spoken on Japan, the MSM has moved from mass hysteria to an "all is well" tone.

3 posted on 03/19/2011 10:04:36 PM PDT by mlocher (Is it time to cash in before I am taxed out?)
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To: SteveH

“thought” and “believed”, yet no sources.

Press releases by TEPCO indicate no such thing.


4 posted on 03/19/2011 10:08:35 PM PDT by Professional
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To: Professional
Latest reports from TEPCO is that the pressure in Reactor 3 has stabilized at a higher level and no release of pressure is needed at this time. Power to Reactor 5 & 6 was restored earlier. Awaiting on electrical systems check before restarting power to Reactor 2.
5 posted on 03/20/2011 4:10:12 AM PDT by WesternPacific (Deafness has its Advantages)
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To: SteveH
NHK is a good source for information.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/

6 posted on 03/20/2011 4:14:55 AM PDT by WesternPacific (Deafness has its Advantages)
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To: SteveH
Hummm Reactor 2 has a cracked containment? I have been betting on 3 having a problem of that type.
7 posted on 03/20/2011 4:23:48 AM PDT by mad_as_he$$
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To: Terpfen
Not that the MSM (or many FReepers) will care.

The 'drive-by media' has already moved on the Lybian conflict. They have successfully portrayed this as a disaster that has lead to the deaths of millions of Japanese that will leave the entire Pacific Rim as a wasteland for ten thousand years so there is no need for them to report on the story anymore.

8 posted on 03/20/2011 7:57:34 AM PDT by NRG1973
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