July 17, 2007
Dozens of problems at quake-hit plant - Kashiwazaki-Kariwa
Dozens of problems at quake-hit plant - Yahoo! NewsKashiwazaki-Kariwa is the world's largest nuclear plant in power output capacity. Japan's nuclear plants supply about 30 percent of the country's electricity, but its dependence on nuclear power is coupled with deep misgivings over safety.
The power plant suffered broken pipes, water leaks and spills of radioactive waste when it was hit by the earthquake Monday, the plant's operator said.
Signs of problems, however, came first not from the officials, but in a plume of smoke that rose up when the quake triggered a small fire at an electrical transformer.
It was announced only 12 hours later that the magnitude 6.8 temblor also caused a leak of about 315 gallons of water containing radioactive material. Officials said the water leak was well within safety standards. The water was flushed into the sea.
The company also said a small amount of radioactive materials cobalt-60 and chromium-51 had been emitted into the atmosphere from an exhaust stack.
Later Tuesday, it said 50 cases of "malfunctioning and trouble" had been found. Four of the plant's seven reactors were running at the time of the quake, and they were all shut down automatically by a safety mechanism.
Officials said there was no harm to the environment, but acknowledged it took a day to discover about 100 drums of low-level nuclear waste that were overturned, some with the lids open.
interesting
Posted by TY at July 17, 2007 12:01 PM
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