*Updates from previous press release are underlined.
All 6 units of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station have been shut down.
Unit 1 (Shut down)
-Explosive sound and white smoke were confirmed after the big quake
occurred at 3:36 pm on March 12, 2011. It was assumed to be hydrogen
explosion.
-At 3:37 pm on March 25, 2011, we started injecting freshwater to the
reactor and are now injecting fresh water by a motor driven pump powered
by the off-site transmission line.
-At 10:11 am on December 10, 2011, in addition to water injection from
water feeding system, we started water injection from piping of core
spray system to the reactor.
At 10:15 am on February 25, as the amount of water injected to reactor
changes are observed, we changed the water injection volume from the core
spray system changed from approx.1.6m3/h to approx. 2.0m3/h (the reactor
feed water system stays the same: approx.4.5m3/h). The current water
injection amount from the reactor feed water system is approx. 4.5 m3/h
and that from the core spray system is approx. 2.0 m3/h.
-At 1:31 am on April 7, 2011, we commenced injection of nitrogen gas into
Primary Containment Vessel.
At 9:40 am on February 24, we started the work to add the flow-meters to
the nitrogen injection line at the side of Primary Containment Vessel of
Unit 1 in order to improve the reliability of nitrogen injection activity.
Due to this work, we suspended the nitrogen injection task temporarily (*).
After the completion of the installation, we restarted the nitrogen
injection. At 1:10 pm, it was confirmed that there was no significant
variation in the parameters.
*In the Chapter 12 of Nuclear Reactor Facilities Security Regulation "The
Way of Ensuring Mid-term Security", as the treatments like "Operational
limitation" or "Measures required in case of not satisfying the
operational limitation" are determined, it is supposed the operator act
per the required measures if it fails to satisfy the operational
limitation. This time, to implement maintenance works, we have suspended
the work of nitrogen injection at the side of Primary Containment Vessel
of Unit 1 by conducting a planned shift beyond the range of operational
limitation (from 9:40 am to 1:10 pm on February 24).
-At 11:22 am on August 10, 2011, we started cyclic cooling for the water
in the spent fuel pool by an alternative cooling equipment of the Fuel
Pool Cooling and Filtering System.
-On October 28, 2011, we completed installation of the cover for the
Reactor Building in order to contain dispersion of radioactive substances.
-At 4:04 pm on November 30, 2011, we started operation to inject nitrogen
into the reactor pressure vessel.
-At 6:00 pm on December 19, 2011, a full-scale operation of the PCV gas
management system started.
Unit 2 (Shut down)
-At approximately 6:00 am on March 15, 2011, an abnormal noise began
emanating from nearby Pressure Suppression Chamber and the pressure
within the chamber decreased.
-At 10:10 am on March 26, 2011, we started injecting freshwater to the
reactor and are now injecting fresh water by a motor driven pump powered
by the off-site transmission line.
-At 2:59 pm on September 14, 2011, in addition to water injection from
feed water system, we started water injection from piping of core spray
system to the reactor.
At 10:15 am on February 25, as the amount of water injected to reactor
changes are observed, we changed the water injection volume from the
reactor feed water system changed from approx.2.6 m3/h to approx. 3.0m3/h
(the core spray system stays the same: approx.6.0m3/h). The current water
injection amount from the reactor feed water system is approx. 3 m3/h and
that from the core spray system is approx. 6 m3/h.
-With regard to the water injection volume for Unit 2 reactor, which was
increased with temperature figure raising, we have gradually adjusted it
to the original volume before temperature increasing (Feed water system:
approx. 3.0m3/h, core spray system: approx. 6.0m3/h). During our
observing the plant parameter after decreasing the flow rate of feed
water system on February 22, we found that one thermometer in the lower
part of the RPV (top of the lower head 135°) indicated the different
movement from others. From 0:21 pm to 2:48 pm on February 23, we
investigated the concerned device. As the result of the measurement of DC
resistance, we found no breaking wire and availability of the thermometer.
But we confirmed that the DC resistance of it became higher than the
previous measurement test data. We will evaluate the soundness of the
concerned device and examine correspondence in future. We make sure no
re-criticality state because there were no significant changes at the
monitoring post and as the result of the sampling for the Gas Control
System of the Unit 2, we confirmed that the concentration of Xe-135 was
below the detectible limit.
·At 5:00 am on February 25, the temperature of the lower part of the RPV
(top of the lower head)(135°) : approximate 45.2 °C
(Reference)
·At 5:00 am on February 25, the temperature of the lower part of the RPV
(top of the lower head)(270°) : approximate 39.5 °C
The current water injection amount from the reactor feed water system is
approx. 2.9m3/h and that from the core spray system is approx. 6.0 m3/h.
-At 5:21 pm on May 31, 2011, we started cyclic cooling for the water in
the spent fuel pool by an alternative cooling equipment of the Fuel Pool
Cooling and Filtering System.
-At 8:06 pm on June 28, 2011, we started injecting nitrogen gas into the
Primary Containment Vessel.
-At 6:00 pm on October 28, 2011, a full operation of the PCV gas control
system started.
-At 10:46 am on December 1, 2011, we started the nitrogen injection to the
Reactor Pressure Vessel.
-At 11:50 am on January 19, 2012, we started the operation of the spent
fuel pool desalting facility.
Unit 3 (Shut down)
-Explosive sound and white smoke were confirmed at approximately 11:01 am
on March 14, 2011. It was assumed to be hydrogen explosion.
-At 6:02 pm on March 25, 2011, we started injecting fresh water to the
reactor and are now injecting fresh water by a motor driven pump powered
by the off-site transmission line.
-At 2:58 pm on September 1, 2011, we started water injection by core spray
system in addition to water injection by the reactor feed water system
piping arrangement.
At 10:05 am on February 24, as the change in the injected water amount
was observed, the injected water amount was adjusted from approx. 1.6m3/h
to 2.0m3/h in the feed water system and from approx. 5.2m3/h to 5.0m3/h
in the core spray system.
The current water injection amount from the reactor feed water system is
approx. 2.0m3/h and that from the core spray system is approx. 5.0 m3/h.
-At 7:47 pm on June 30, 2011, we started cyclic cooling for the water in
the spent fuel pool by an alternative cooling equipment of the Fuel Pool
Cooling and Filtering System.
-At 8:01 pm on July 14, 2011, injection of nitrogen gas into the Primary
Containment Vessel started.
-As installation works of the PCV gas control system was completed, we
started a test operation at 11:38 am on February 23, 2012. We confirmed
that an exhaust flow amount was stable at 33Nm3/h at 2:10 pm and started
an adjustment operation. On February 23, we conducted gas sampling survey
of the PCV gas control system of Unit 3 and confirmed that Xenon 135 was
below the detection limit (9.4 x 10-2Bq/cm3) at the inlet of the system
and also below 1 Bq/cm3 that is a threshold of recriticality.
-At 4:26 pm on November 30, 2011, we started operation to inject nitrogen
into the reactor pressure vessel.
-At 3:18 pm on January 14, we started operation of the radioactive
material removal instrument for the spent fuel pool in Unit 3
Unit 4 (Outage due to regular inspection)
-At around 6 am on March 15, 2011, we confirmed the explosive sound and
the sustained damage around the 5th floor rooftop area of Reactor
Building.
-At 12:44 pm on July 31, 2011, we started cyclic cooling for the water in
the spent fuel pool by an alternative cooling equipment of the Fuel Pool
Cooling and Filtering System.
At 3:11 pm on February 23, in the alternative cooling system of the spent
fuel pool of Unit 4, as the inhale pressure of the primary circulating
pump showed the tendency of decrease, we stopped the pump in order to
conduct flushing of the strainer on its entry side and suspended cooling
of the spent fuel pool (the temperature of the pool at the time of the
suspension was approx. 25°C) After the flushing, at 5:18 pm on the same
day we resumed the cooling of the spent fuel pool and confirmed the
recovery of the inhale pressure of the pump. (the temperature of the pool
at the time of the resuming was approx. 26°C)
-At 10:58 am on November 29, 2011, in order to decrease more salinity, we
installed Ion exchange equipment and started the operation of such
equipment.
-At this moment, we don't think there is any reactor coolant leakage
inside the primary containment vessel.
Unit 5 (Outage due to regular inspection)
-Sufficient level of reactor coolant to ensure safety is maintained.
-At 5:00 am on March 19, 2011, we started the Residual Heat Removal System
Pump in order to cool the spent fuel pool.
-At 2:45 pm on July 15, 2011, we started the operation of the original
Residual Heat Removal System (System B) by its original seawater pump.
-At 10:11 am on December 22, 2011, since we finished the recovery work of
seawater pump (System B) of equipment water cooling system, we made a
trial run. At 11:25 am on the same day, we confirmed no abnormalities and
restarted the operation.
-At 6:00 am on February 24, in order to change the delivery valve of the
pump (A) of the reactor sea water system of Unit 5, we stopped the pump
(C) of the reactor sea water system. As a result, the cooling of the
spent fuel pool was stopped. (the temperature of the spent fuel pool at
the time : approx 17.4°C) At 12:08 pm on the same day, the system was
restarted after the completion of the work. Accordingly the cooling of
the spent fuel pool was restarted as well. (pool temperature at the time
of the cooling restart: approx 18.2°C)
-At this moment, we don't think there is any reactor coolant leakage
inside the primary containment vessel.
Unit 6 (Outage due to regular inspection)
-Sufficient level of reactor coolant to ensure safety is maintained.
-At 10:14 pm on March 19, 2011, we started the Residual Heat Removal
System Pump of Unit 6 to cool down Spent Fuel Pool.
-At 2:33 pm on September 15, 2011, we started separately cooling the
reactor through the Residual Heat Removal System and the spent fuel pool
through Equipment Cooling Water System and Fuel Pool Cooling System.
-As the component cooling sea water system pump (C) of Unit 6 has been
restored, we started test operation at 10:05 am on February 22, 2012.
Accordingly, the component cooling sea water system pump (A) stopped its
operation at 10:07 am on the same day. At 11:25 am on the same day, we
confirmed that there was no problem in the operation of the component
cooling sea water system pump (C). As a result, two of the component
cooling sea water system pumps of Unit 6, (A) and (C), are in operation,
Others
-At around 10:00 am on June 13, 2011, we started the operation of the
circulating seawater purification facility installed at the screen area
of Unit 2 and 3.
-At 8:00 pm on June 17, 2011, we started operation of Water Treatment
Facility against the accumulated water. At 6:00 pm on July 2, we started
the circulating injection cooling to inject the water, which was treated
by the accumulated water treatment system, to the reactors through the
buffer tank.
-At 7:41 pm on August 19, 2011, we started treatment of accumulated water
by parallel operation of one line from the cesium adsorption instrument
to the decontamination instrument and the other treatment line of the
cesium adsorption instrument No.2.
-At 2:06 pm on October 7, 2011, we started to spray purified accumulated
water brought from Unit 5 and 6 continually in order to prevent dust
scattering and potential fire outbreaks from the cut down trees.
-On October 28, 2011, we started installation of the water proof wall at
the sea side, in front of the existing shore protection, Units 1-4, in
order to contain marine pollution by underground water.
-At 12:25 pm on December 13, 2011, we started the re-circulating operation
of desalination facility (reverse osmosis membrane type) for the purpose
of suppression of condensed water after desalination treatment.
-At 9:18 am on January 31, we started transfer of Sub-drain Water of Unit
6 to the temporary tank. We will conduct transferring to the temporary
tank appropriately.
-At 2:04 pm on February 23, 2012, we started to transfer accumulated water
from underground floor of turbine building of Unit 2 to the centralized
radiation waste treatment facility.
-At 10:20 am on February 25, we started the accumulated water from the
basement of Turbine building of Unit 1 to the basement of Turbine
building of Unit 2.
-At 8:30 am Today (Feb. 25), Tepco worker and partner companies'worker
found water leakage at welded part of piping at B line of 2nd Cesium
adsorption apparatus(SARRY) placed on the 1st floor in Miscellaneous
Solid Waste Volume Reduction Treatment Building (High Temperature
Incinerator Building) of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. The
leakage is just a drop per second and the amount of water leaked is
approx. 10 litters (2m x 5m x 1mm). Those leaked water are stayed in
barrier in the building and it did not leaked to out of the building. At
10:44 am, we stopped operation of SARRY and closed valve positioned in
the upstream of leaked point to prevent further leakage of the water. We
confirmed that the leakage was stopped at 11:10 am. Surface radiation is
approx. 4-5mSv/h (2mSv/h in the back ground). We will sample the leaked
water and analyze the radioactivity concentration. The treatment of
accumulated water is not affected by suspending the SARRY, and there is a
lot of purified water that there is no effect injecting water to the
reactor.