From 19 March work was proceeding to reconnect the Fukushima Daiichi plant to the grid to restart reactor coolant pumps. Utility TEPCO has announced it has restored one of three emergency diesel generators at unit 6, and as a result, one of the residual heat removal (RHR) pumps at unit 5 has started up. Two other pumps at unit 5 will be restarted after a pump at unit 6 is restored, work that is underway as of 12:30pm GMT.
The six-unit station is in two blocks; units 1-4 are in one block, and units 5&6 are in another slightly further up the coast.
The auxiliary transformer of unit 2 is now receiving electricity from an external transmission line. TEPCO reports that it is installing a power cable from that transformer to a temporary power panel. TEPCO also reports it is working to receive external power to units 3 and 4, that it has completed repairs to an emergency generator at unit 6, and is working on receiving an external power supply to units 5&6. According to the Japanese Atomic Industry Forum, external power supply for units 1&2 was due to be reconnected on 19 March, and units 3-6 on the 20th.
Units of the Japanese Home Defence Force, riot police, US Army fire engines and most recently the Tokyo Fire Department's Hyper Rescue have been spraying and dropping water on the spent fuel pool to cool it.
Radiation levels remain relatively high; a rate of 364.5 microSv/h was detected at the west gate on Saturday, the 19th. On 18 March the Japanese Nuclear Industrial and Safety Agency raised the consequences of part of the Fukushima Daiichi emergency from INES level 4 , 'accident with local consequences' 4 to level 5,'accident with wider consequences'.
Regular updates may be found on the website of our sister journal, Nuclear Engineering International, reachable on <www.neimagazine.com> or by clicking on the link in the navigation bar to the left of this page.
The following sites are also posting continuing updates:
<http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/index-e.html>
<http://www.iaea.org/>
<http://www.jaif.or.jp/english/>
<http://bravenewclimate.com/2011/03/15/tepco-reactor-status/>
<http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/>
<http://http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/index-e.html>
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