Crippled Japanese nuclear plant suffers blackout

[AsahinaKimi]

Source: AP

Published: 19 minutes ago

TOKYO (AP) - A power failure at Japan's tsunami-damaged nuclear plant on Monday night has left three fuel storage pools without fresh cooling water for hours, the plant's operator said.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said the power failure at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant was brief at its command center but continued for hours at three of the seven fuel storage pools and at several other facilities, including one that treats water contaminated with radioactivity.

TEPCO said the reactors were unaffected and no other abnormalities were found. TEPCO spokesman Takeo Iwamoto said the utility plans to restore power to the pool cooling systems as soon as it can determine the cause of the failure.

Read more: http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_15806/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=KzT3zLIh

[truthisfreedom]

1. More Fukushima fun.

I hope there's no extreme events.

[James48]

2. "Plans to restore power???"

Ugh.


That is not good.

[davidpdx]

3. Egads

That area doesn't need anymore bad news. One has to wonder how accurate the information coming out is.

[RobertEarl]

4. No big deal

They didn't pay the power bill on time. It happens. *Snork.*

The best info is that they can go several days before anything gets too hot.

Here's Tepco and the governments biggest worry::


Some 1,650 plaintiffs filed the case with the Fukushima District Court, demanding 50,000 yen a month from the government and Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) until the area is restored, their lawyers said in a statement.

“Through this case, we will clarify the responsibility of TEPCO, which caused the accident, and the government which neglected to take sufficient safety measures and promoted nuclear power with utilities as a national policy,” the statement said.

“This case is not only aimed at saving victims, but also at pushing the government to thoroughly change its pro-nuclear policy and therefore prevent people becoming victims in the future,” it said.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/800-fukushima-survivors-sue-government-tepco?utm_campaign=jt_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=jt_newsletter_2013-03-12_AM

[lonestarnot]

5. And it hasn't been dismissed for failure to state a claim?

[Sunlei]

6. they STILL don't have an emergency power generator system????

[Art_from_Ark]

7. According to NHK, the problem was in the electric switchboards

Last edited Tue Mar 19, 2013, 04:20 AM - Edit history (1)

that route the power coming from 3 outside power lines.

Two of the switchboards were fixed this afternoon (Japan time). The other one (No. 1 unit) was replaced, and water circulation was restarted at 2:20 pm Japan time (2 hours ago).

The water circulation system for the spent fuel pool was restarted at 1:20 (3 hours ago) for the No. 4 unit, and the cooling system is expected to go back on at 8 pm Japan time (less than 4 hours from now).

The water circulation system for the No. 3 unit is also expected to be restarted in about 4 hours, and the cooling system for the "shared pool" is expected to be back on by 8 am tomorrow (March 20, Japan time).

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. Thank you for that detailed info, Art.

Altho by now TEPCO has a huge credibility problem...

[Art_from_Ark]

9. Well, TEPCO may have a credibility problem,

but given all the legal action they're facing, and the shake-up in the upper echelons, and the intense public scrutiny they have come under, they just might be trying to be more forthright. But, who knows?

[Art_from_Ark]

10. The TV news just said that the "shared pool" cooling system

was restarted at a little after midnight (12 hours ago), but they haven't figured out exactly why the shutdown occurred.

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. I am hoping you would like to share more of what you are hearing & seeing

about Fukishima, and the govt's and Tepco response.
And the mood of the people.
We simply do not get that kind of info over here.

[Art_from_Ark]

12. Here's a recent thread where I have shared information about Fukushima

http://www.democraticunderground.com/112738337

[RobertEarl]

14. Hello Art

You are right, with all that has been going on at Fukushima and the fact that it hasn't blown up again, Tepco must be doing something right.

Ever hear of the Carrington effect and CME? Coronal Mass Ejection. Seems about the time that the power went down, earth was getting hit with a CME.

Here is a site that I have been following and it has a mention of the CME and a link to what they call the Kp which is a measure of what CME's bring to earth.

http://spaceweather.com/

Hope all stays on a steadily improving path for you and the Japanese.

[Art_from_Ark]

17. The current theory is that a mouse or rat caused a short circuit

They found traces of something having been burned in one of the electric switchboards (No. 1 unit, that sent power to other units), and right below that they found the remains of what appears to have been a small animal, like a mouse or a rat.

http://mainichi.jp/select/news/m20130321k0000m040072000c.html

[Art_from_Ark]

15. Here's another thread where I mention that the wheels for compensation

are finally getting started:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017100117#post18

[Art_from_Ark]

16. You might be interested in these radiation maps put out by the Japanese government

Please note that you would have to agree to the terms of use, but basically they're the usual pledge not to use copyrighted material for unintended purposes. Unfortunately, the maps haven't been updated since late December.

http://ramap.jmc.or.jp/map/eng/

[Warren DeMontague]

13. Oy Vey.

Sounds like it's ironed out now, but man.