Electrical utility TEPCO has outlined its plans for restoring the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Reactor-by-reactor, system-by-system summary from JAIF as of 18 April; yellow indicates abnormal/unstable; red means damaged/nonfunctional
It estimates that only by July 2011 will it be able to put radiation doses in steady decline, and by between October and December 2011 will it have the release of radioactive materials under control, and be able to significantly hold down radiation dose.
The three-month target of reaching declining radiation doses, called step 1, relies on two current activities: the prevention of hydrogen explosions, and prevention of release of contaminated water. The risk of hydrogen explosions increases because of steam condensation caused by injecting fresh water into the reactor, TEPCO said. It will continue to inject nitrogen gas into containment to reduce the concentrations of hydrogen and oxygen below the limit of inflammability. As of 14 April, it had injected 5500 m3 of nitrogen into the unit 1 containment vessel. To deal with contaminated water, TEPCO is working to acquire more storage and also processing facilities. As of 15 April, TEPCO reported that the central waste treatment facility, capacity 25,000 tons, had finished its examination and was prepared to receive contaminated water from turbine buildings and the trench.
TEPCO has organised its short-term actions to overcome the Fukushima Daiichi emergency in Japan. Targets are organised into three-month targets (step 1) and six-nine month targets (step 2)
Less immediate targets, called step 2, will take from six to nine months to achieve, TEPCO said. They include installing temporary covers for the buildings, and a seismic support structure for the unit 4 spent fuel pool in particular, whose walls have been damaged.
(In other news, TEPCO used a remote-controlled robot to enter the unit 3 and 1 reactor building to survey its state, and to collect radiation doses.)
As part of the recovery analysis, TEPCO summarised the current state of the plant, system by system, and summarised the countermeasures it was currently performing, and planning. It has divided these into different categories.
Current status of reactor cooling:
- (Units 1 to 3) Cooling achieved by water injection while there is partial damage to fuel pellets.
- (Units 1 to 3) High likelihood of small leakage of steam containing radioactive materials through the gap of PCV [primary containment vessel] caused by high temperature.
- (Unit 2) Large amount of water leakage, indicating high likelihood of PCV damage.
- Secured multiple off-site power (1 system each from TEPCO and Tohoku EPCO) and deployed backup power (generator cars /emergency generators)
Current status of spent fuel pond cooling:
- Fresh water is injected from outside for Units 1, 3, 4 and through normal cooling line for Unit 2.
- Confirmation of release of radioactive materials from the pool
- Walls of the building supporting the pool have been damaged.
Current status of mitigation of contaminated water:
- Leakage of high radiation-level contaminated water assumed to have originated from Unit 2 reactor occurred, but was subsequently stopped.
- Leakage and accumulation of high radiation level contaminated water at unit 2’s turbine building, vertical shafts and trenches.
- Increase of storage volume of water with low radiation levels.
- High likelihood of underground water around the building (sub-drainage water) to be contaminated.
Current status of mitigation of aerial/earth release of contamination:
- Debris are scattered outside the buildings and radioactive materials are being scattered.
Current status of monitoring and decontamination:
- Monitoring of radiation dose inside and out of the power station is carried out. (Seawater, soil and air sampling at 25 sites inside the boundary and 12 locations outside).
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