TEPCO Finds Water Leak in Unit 3 Reactor Container at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Tokyo Electric Power Company Incorporated (TSE:9501) (TEPCO) (Tokyo, Japan) has found the source of a water leak from the Unit 3 reactor container at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, the company said on May 15.

The water was found leaking near a pipe joint, which goes through the primary containment vessel of the Unit 3 reactor.

The primary containment vessel still holds water to keep the reactors cooled daily, even though it was damaged. TEPCO said that the leaks are occurring because the primary containment vessel is positioned higher than the area containing the pipe joints.

Finding the leaks is a crucial step in TEPCO's plan to decommission and scrap the reactors in units 1, 2 and 3. All three reactors incurred meltdowns during the East Japan Earthquake in 2011.

TEPCO is now in the process of assessing the amount of water that leaked out, and how to plug the leak. TEPCO said it was continuing to investigate the sources of other leaks.

In addition to locating the leak, TEPCO released groundwater that was pumped from the least-contaminated area of the plant on May 21. About 560 tons of groundwater was released that day. The underground water is separated from the toxic waters that TEPCO is seeking to contain.

TEPCO said that after the groundwater is pumped and stored, it is tested for the presence of tritium. TEPCO said its water safety standards are higher than those of the Japanese government.

The second water release was conducted on May 27. About 641 tons of groundwater was released. TEPCO plans to release more groundwater over time.

On September 5, 2013, TEPCO confirmed the location of groundwater inflow at the power plant. TEPCO said 400 tons of groundwater per day flow into the basements of four reactors, where it is contaminated. The power company suspects there may be other entry points of groundwater in basements of other buildings.

TEPCO has a bypass plan to reduce the groundwater inflow.

For related information, see September 9, 2013, article - TEPCO Finds Entry Point of Groundwater to Basement of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, three offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.