Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire: Fukushima Nuclear Crisis Update from FEPC for 09/23/11

Friday, September 23, 2011

Fukushima Nuclear Crisis Update from FEPC for 09/23/11

Please find the updated information sheet below and attached that summarizes the events from Update-56 on 8/25.

Please direct any questions regarding this document to me, Ishida@denjiren.com or Samuel Lederer, Researcher of FEPC at lederer@denjiren.com.

Update to Information Sheet Regarding the Tohoku Earthquake

The Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan (FEPC) Washington DC Office

As of September 23, 2011

All times listed below are Japan Standard Time (JST) unless otherwise noted.

Prime Minister Noda’s Address at UN General Assembly

On September 22, Prime Minister Noda made a speech at the meeting on nuclear safety and security, a part of The 66^th General Assembly of United Nations. The main points of his statement are as follows:

Japan is steadily moving closer to stable control of the Fukushima Daiichi accident. The most recent estimates indicate that the amount of radioactive material being discharged is now being held down to a level of one-four millionth of that at the early stage of the accident. We are now making every effort to achieve the state of cold shutdown of the reactors roughly within 2011, ahead of schedule.
Japan will disclose to the international community all the information related to this accident, in both a swift and accurate manner. The investigation committee on the accident will release its final report next year, and we will share the results of our comprehensive inspections and the lessons learned through this accident.
Japan is determined to raise the safety of nuclear power generation to the highest level in the world. In addition to the emergency measures already taken, we plan to establish 'The Nuclear Safety and Security Agency' around April of next year and also reinforce nuclear safety regulations.
Japan stands ready to respond to the interest of countries seeking to use nuclear power generation. Japan has been supporting such countries and remains steadfast in responding positively to their interest in our undertakings.
In parallel, Japan will also take the lead to increase development and use of renewable energies, and present practical strategies and plans around the summer of 2012 concerning the composition of energy sources over the medium and long terms.
Japan will also participate actively in efforts to ensure nuclear security. Japan will join actively in international undertakings in this field and reinforce its measures to protect its nuclear materials and facilities.

Roadmap and Major Activities of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power

On September 20, TEPCO revised “the Roadmap towards Restoration from the Accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station” which reflects the progress made in the five months since TEPCO first announced the roadmap on April 17.

The details of the roadmap are available at:

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11092003-e.html

TEPCO maintains the time frame for achieving cold shutdown status within three to six months after July 17 as “Step 2”.
As of September 18, 95,420 tons of accumulated water has been processed at the water treatment facility, which recently achieved a weekly operating rate of 83%.
The total volume of accumulated water in the site buildings has decreased to the level at which overflow will not occur in the case of heavy rain or long-term outage of water treatment facilities.
The temperature at the bottom of Reactor Pressure Vessel at Unit 1 has been stabilized below 100 degrees C, the threshold normally defined as Cold Shutdown. Water injection through Core Spray has begun at Unit 2 and 3, aiming to achieve a cold shutdown condition.
The target of spent fuel pools cooling in the Step 2 phase has been achieved.
The construction of the steel frame of the temporary cover for the reactor building of Unit 1 was completed on September 9^th and panels comprising the balance of the cover are currently being installed.
The basic design of the groundwater shielding walls was completed on August 31 and the design specifications are currently under consideration.

Plant Status (As of September 20)

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1/images/f12np-gaiyou_e_2.pdf

	Unit 1	Unit 2	Unit 3	Unit 4
Circulating Water Cooling of Reactor	Ongoing	Ongoing	Ongoing	- (All fuels are stored in the SF Pool)
Temperature at the bottom of Reactor Pressure Vessel	82.4 degrees C (180.3 degrees F)	111.7 degrees C (233.1 degrees F)	88.3 degrees C (185.5 degrees F)
Injection of Nitrogen into Primary Containment Vessel	Ongoing (since 4/7)	Ongoing (since 6/28)	Ongoing (since 7/14)
Circulating Cooling System of SF Pool	Ongoing (since 8/10)	Ongoing (since 5/31)	Ongoing (since 6/30)	Ongoing (since 7/31)
Temperature of SF Pool Water (as of 9/23)	26.0 degrees C (78.8 degrees F)	30.0 degrees C (86.0 degrees F)	28.4 degrees C (83.1 degrees F)	36.0 degrees C (96.8 degrees F)