Cover-upsSpent Fuel Pools

Tepco damaged power cable for reactor4 pool coolant system / Tepco “Didn’t know the cable was there”

On 2/25/2014, Tepco damaged the power cable for reactor4 pool, which was installed by themselves.

It stopped one of the coolant systems of reactor4 pool, they ended up suspending fuel removal from the pool. They took about 4 hours to restart.

 

Tepco was drilling the ground in the south side of reactor4 in the process of improving the ground to stop groundwater flowing into the reactor buildings.

When they drilled approx. 1m in the ground, they damaged the power cable.

 

Regarding the cause, Tepco stated they were not informed of that the power cables were there by the outsourced company. Also, they had the “subjective impression” that any pipes or cables were not buried there.

Additionally, they actually found unexpected material when they started drilling, but they continued drilling without checking anything.

 

http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2014/images/handouts_140228_05-j.pdf

http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2014/images/handouts_140225_06-j.pdf

http://photo.tepco.co.jp/date/2014/201402-j/140225-02j.html

 

 

Downplay it in the beginning, and quietly add more information so nobody notices it. All for not letting the cattle escape. This is their strategy.

_____

Français :

Tepco endommage le câble électrique du refroidissement de la SFP4 / Tepco : “On savait pas qu’il passait par là”

See also

 

Le 25 février 2014, Tepco a endommagé un câble électrique de la piscine du réacteur 4 qu’ils avaient installé eux-mêmes.

Ça a arrêté un des systèmes de refroidissement de la piscine du réacteur 4, ils ont fini par suspendre le retrait des combustibles de la piscine. Il leur a fallu 4 heures pour redémarrer.

Tepco forait le sol côté mer du réacteur 4 dans le cadre d’un chantier devant renforcer le sol pour arrêter l’écoulement des eaux souterraines dans les bâtiments du réacteur.
Quand ils sont arrivés à environ 1 m de profondeur, ils ont endommagé le câble électrique.

Concernant l’explication, Tepco a affirmé qu’ils n’étaient pas informés par un sous-traitant du fait que les câbles électriques passaient là. De plus, ils ont eu “l’impression subjective” qu’aucun tuyau ni câble n’était enfoui à cet endroit.
Qui plus est, lorsqu’ils ont commencé le forage ils sont tombés, en fait, sur un matériau inattendu mais ils ont continuer de forer sans chercher à vérifier quoi que ce soit.


http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2014/images/handouts_140228_05-j.pdf
http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2014/images/handouts_140225_06-j.pdf
http://photo.tepco.co.jp/date/2014/201402-j/140225-02j.html

 

Le minimiser au début et ajouter tranquillement de nouvelles information pour que personne ne le remarque. Tout pour que le troupeau ne s’échappe pas. C’est leur stratégie.

Mochizuki
Mochizuki
The writer of Fukushima Diary.
Related
Previous Underground wall on the seaside of reactor3 was possibly broken / Groundwater level in sync with ebb and flow
Next 2,900 MBq/km2 of Cesium-134/137 still fall down in Fukushima plant area monthly

24 Comments

  1. Ichiban 一番

    http www areva com/ (EN/operations-1185/melox-key-dates) html

    2010: (1) TEPCO became the first Japanese electrician to sign a contract manufacturing MOX fuel in 1995. MOX fuel loaded was manufactured by TEPCO Belgonucléaire (Belgium) at the end of 90 years in the contract between the Toshiba Fuel designer and Economic Interest Group Commox. The Economic Interest Group (60% owned by COGEMA and 40% Belgonucléaire) was a commercial entity that allowed the use of force manufacturing plants Belgonucléaire, AREVA Cadarache and MELOX form platform. Belgonucléaire Plant in Dessel ceased operations since mid 2006 and Cadarache has stopped its commercial production in 2003 was called Commox to disappear in late 2006, the productions being refocused to MELOX.

  2. 一番

    2009: May: delivery of MOX fuel to Japan. In October 2009, the first MOX fuel assemblies ordered by Kyushu, a Japanese electric power company, were loaded in reactor no. 3 at the Genkai nuclear power plant, followed by a series of power generation tests in November and reactor operation at full capacity on December 2nd, 2009. This was the first time ever that MOX was employed to generate electricity in Japan. The utilization of MOX fuel in Japan marks more than 30 years of a fruitful business relationship between AREVA and Japanese power companies.

    1. Mr Bill Duff cuts and pastes boring information from something like wikipedia, forgetting to cite his sources.

  3. TEPCO ‘Jam Session’

    http www chinadaily com cn/ (world/2014-03/06/content_17327068) htm

    Japan’s NRA blast TEPCO for serious safety problems
    (Xinhua) Updated: 2014-03-06 11:27

    TOKYO – Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) blasted Tokyo Electric Power Co. Wednesday for its inappropriate handling of fuel rods at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata Prefecture which caused some of the highly volatile rods to be damaged.

    The NRA said that workers at the plant had tried forcibly to jam the rods into fuel assemblies when they wouldn’t fit, leaving some 26 fuel assemblies with “abnormalities.”

    1. As the utility was rebuked by domestic and international nuclear regulators and the wider international community for once again falsely measuring radiation levels, (Japan NRA Chairman Shunichi) Tanaka lambasted TEPCO.

      “Something like this cannot happen. This data is what becomes the basis of various decisions, so they must do their utmost to avoid mistakes in measuring radiation,” Tanaka told a news conference, after the latest gaffe came to light.

      TEPCO, despite its ongoing safety problems as highlighted by Tanaka Wednesday, plans to re-start the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, its biggest nuclear facility, this summer, much to the dismay and concern of the local and international community who believe more stringent tests need to be conducted.

  4. SNAFU FUBAR

    Perhaps we should coin a new term for TEPCO – SNAFUBAR

    http www japantimes co jp/ (news/2014/03/06/national/tepco-haunted-by-mismanagement/)

    National| ANALYSIS – Tepco haunted by mismanagement – Glaring errors have met utility’s cleanup effort at nearly every turn

    The direct cause of the incident was the mishandling of a valve operation, which caused contaminated water to flow into a tank that was already nearly full. But what was more disturbing was how workers had overlooked the signs that something was wrong. The incident triggered renewed concerns over Tepco’s ability to oversee the ongoing cleanup.

    “If we had acted with more care after hearing an alarm warning of a rise in the tank’s water level, we would have been able to minimize the consequences,” Tepco spokesman Masayuki Ono told a news conference after the company announced the leak Feb. 20, referring to an alarm that went off more than nine hours before workers found water spilling from the tank’s lid.

    Because the water-level readings showed irregular movements following the alarm and because people on patrol were not able to find any trace of a leak near the tank in the two hours or so after the warning sounded, the utility judged that the water-level gauge had malfunctioned. But Ono admitted that workers could have noticed the leak sooner had they gone up on the 10-meter-tall tank to check how much water it contained or if workers in a control room had paid attention to data showing that the water level in tanks designated to receive the water was not rising.

    1. Mr Bill Duff creates a portmanteau of acronyms, reason unknown. He also pastes some anti TEPCO article.

        1. I agree Lu.

          At least Mr. Duff posts real information, instead of rudderless inane commentary and mindless seemingly industry-sponsored dogma and attacks.

          Mr. Duff gains respect with every reply posted.

          Thank you Bill.
          I know you will never forget 3-11-2011 either.

          1. Mr Bill Duff is using his other account. Both ‘Dud’ and ‘Duff’ are synonyms for failure.

        2. I am writing helpful summaries of Bill Duffs posts, since not everyone has the time to read them.

  5. Not Knowing

    Not Knowing critical information about your nuclear site, may be more common than we would wish.

  6. For the record:

    Arnie Gundersen
    Chief Engineer
    Fairewinds Energy Education

    I operated a business, which performed some early site work, on the Carlsbad Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, about 30 years ago.

    The process was quite simple. A number of vertical pilot holes were drilled to the salt formation. These pilot holes were on the order of 11″ in diameter. There were on the order of 200 such pilot holes drilled and cased with, if memory serves 9″, 28#/ft or 8 5/8″ 24# steel casing. The casing was cemented. Then the casing was (internally) hydro-statically tested to verify initial seal.

    The fundamental difficulty with this process is:

    ALL the subsurface geologic formations have been breached by this drilling process. The WIPP site can be reasonably characterized as a ‘pin cushion’. Casing and cement do not fully ‘heal’ the vertical formation damage from the drilling. All the water from every surface and subsurface source is able to freely flow down and or up the mine, as local pressure may drive it.

    Thus it has been likely, from the beginning, that significant subsurface water flows and cumulative water damage would ensue, at the WIPP site.

    Sincerely,

    Bill Duff

      1. Actually,

        A copy of the Email sent TO Arnie Gunderson is posted, for the interested reader.

        Niall is not actually ‘a reader’, more of a knuckle dragging ape. With apologies to any literate and semi-literate Simians.

        Sincerely,

        Bill Duff

  7. Nuke Us

    http www forbes com/ (sites/christopherhelman/2012/01/25/nuke-us-meet-the-town-that-wants-americas-worst-nuclear-waste/) Forbes – Energy – by Christopher Helman – 1/25/2012 @ 6:04PM

    Nuke Us: The Town That Wants America’s Worst Atomic Waste

    There’s a secure solution to America’s nuclear waste problem: bury it under Carlsbad, New Mexico. The locals are ready — if only Washington would get out of the way.

    Bob Forrest is known for a lot of things in Carlsbad, a quiet city of 25,000 on the edge of New Mexico’s empty, endless Chihuahuan Desert. He was mayor here for 16 years. He’s chairman of the local bank and owns the spanking new Fairfield Inn, which sits next to the new Chili’s and the new Wal-Mart. And he helped bring 200,000 tons of deadly nuclear waste to town.

    Since opening in 1999, WIPP has operated so smoothly and safely that Carlsbad is lobbying the feds to ­expand the project to take the nuclear mother lode: 160,000 more tons of the worst high-level nuclear waste in the country—things like the half-melted reactor core of Three Mile Island and old nuclear fuel rods—that are residing at aging nuke plants a short drive from wherever you’re sitting right now.

    1. Southeastern New Mexico is not to blame.

      I do not think ILL of Bob Forest, his family tire business or his career. I have done business with Forest Tire for 35 years. I like Carlsbad New Mexico and the rest of Southeastern New Mexico.

      The design flaws, operational difficulties, mission creep (expansion) and recent radiation accident/incident responsibility at the WIPP project are entirely federal in nature. I do not recall ever discussing the WIPP site or the plutonium processing plant a few miles further east, near the Texas – New Mexico state boundary; with any member of the Forest Family.

      These federal programs have inherent risks; which are seldom understood by the local townsfolk or their politicians. The Fukushima-Diary readers should be accustomed to the LYING in depth of ‘Team Nuke’. Such is the case in Southwestern New Mexico. Team Nuke invariably promises good paying jobs, civic minded employees and great public relations. Unfortunately they also deliver lies, destruction, disease, death and environmental devastation.

      Sincerely,

      Bill Duff

    2. Mr Bill Duff pastes stuff. WIth this amount of pasting, he should have his own scrap book blog.

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About this site

This website updates the latest news about the Fukushima nuclear plant and also archives the past news from 2011. Because it's always updated and added live, articles, categories and the tags are not necessarily fitted in the latest format.
I am the writer of this website. About page remains in 2014. This is because my memory about 311 was clearer than now, 2023, and I think it can have a historical value. Now I'm living in Romania with 3 cats as an independent data scientist.
Actually, nothing has progressed in the plant since 2011. We still don't even know what is going on inside. They must keep cooling the crippled reactors by water, but additionally groundwater keeps flowing into the reactor buildings from the broken parts. This is why highly contaminated water is always produced more than it can circulate. Tepco is planning to officially discharge this water to the Pacific but Tritium is still remaining in it. They dilute this with seawater so that it is legally safe, but scientifically the same amount of radioactive tritium is contained. They say it is safe to discharge, but none of them have drunk it.

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