Fukushima Reactors Below 100 Degrees Celsius, Though Not in Cold Shutdown Yet

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources East Asia (Kofu-shi, Japan)--In September, the temperatures of units 1, 2 and 3 of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station all fell below 100 degrees Celsius. The current temperatures of units 2 and 3 are holding below 70 degrees, while Unit 1 has fallen below 40 degrees. Technically, the three damaged units at Fukushima Daiichi have achieved cold shutdown, though not according to the Japanese government. Cold shutdown is one of the main requirements for Tokyo Electric Power Company Incorporated (TYO:9501) (TEPCO) (Tokyo) to move from stage two of the Fukushima roadmap to stage three.

The government will only acknowledge cold shutdown once TEPCO demonstrates that it can maintain indefinite temperature stability at Fukushima Daiichi. Originally, TEPCO placed cold shutdown in January, but Prime Minister Noda announced a couple of months ago that cold shutdown would be achieved by the end of the year.

After stage two of the roadmap is officially completed, TEPCO will begin the removal of spent fuel from units 1 through 4. TEPCO aims for spent fuel removal completion within four years, while the removal of damaged fuel from units 1 through three is expected within 10 years.

Demonstration of maintained stability may be more difficult that anticipated. On Monday, November 28, the spent fuel pool cooling system at Unit 2 shut down after an alarm sounded due to debris in the monitor piping. Since then, the piping had been flushed and the system has been returned to normal. All three damaged units are still using nitrogen injections to inhibit the production of hydrogen, since all three are still using water injection systems.

TEPCO has been working to reduce the salt content in the spent fuel pool of Unit 4 through the use of a new ion exchange unit, which began operations on November 29. A massive amount of salt was introduced into the spent fuel pool following the earthquake and tsunami as salt water was pumped in as an emergency effort to control temperatures. The use of salt water was discontinued after TEPCO discovered that the salt was preventing cooling.

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