Damage in reactor 1 assumably exacerbated by M7.3 quake from mid March

Photo: Near the bottom of reactor 1 PCV. Molten debris can be seen in the upper middle part of this photo. (16.03.2022) [Link]

 

The crippled reactor 1 in the Fukushima nuclear plant presumably had the damage worsened due to the intense earthquake that happened on the 16th of March, 2022.

The earthquake, which hit the Fukushima nuclear plant again at midnight of the 16th of March local time, had the epicenter in Fukushima offshore and the magnitude was 7.3. The seismic scale was measured to be 6+. Tepco confirmed the water level decreased by 20cm in reactor 1’s primary containment vessel (PCV). Though Tepco reported it was merely a temporary decrease related to the air pressure change and it was unlikely that the earthquake caused additional damage to the reactor, another 20cm decrease of the water level was observed during the following week.
On the 22nd of March, 2022, Tepco announced there’s a possibility that the damage in reactor 1’s PCV was exacerbated. The part that was affected by the earthquake hasn’t been identified.
The possibly newly added damage forced Tepco to increase the injection volume of coolant water by more than 50% per hour. No estimation has been calculated about the progressing vulnerability of the reactor vessels as time passes from the 11th of March, 2011 and how much the increased coolant water contributes to the overwhelming contaminated water storage.

 

https://www.tepco.co.jp/decommission/information/newsrelease/reference/pdf/2022/1h/rf_20220322_6.pdf

https://www.tepco.co.jp/decommission/information/newsrelease/reference/pdf/2022/1h/rf_20220324_1.pdf

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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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