TEPCO Halts Cooling Plan

I know. I’m overdue for a Fukushima update. In the mean time the BBC reports that the cooling plan for reactor #1 has some holes in it.

Japanese engineers have abandoned their latest attempt to stabilise a stricken reactor at the Fukushima nuclear plant.

The plant’s operator, Tepco, had intended to cool reactor 1 by filling the containment chamber with water.

But Tepco said melting fuel rods had created a hole in the chamber, allowing 3,000 tonnes of contaminated water to leak into the basement of the reactor building.

The power plant was badly damaged by the earthquake and tsunami on 11 March.

Cooling systems to the reactors were knocked out, fuel rods overheated, and attempts to release pressure in the chambers led to explosions in the buildings housing the reactors.

The government and Tepco (Tokyo Electric Power Company) said it would take until next January to achieve a cold shut-down at the plant.

They are sticking to their time table though. Which is odd. You would think that the first plan chosen was the fastest way to solve the problems and that any other plan would take longer. My guess? January will come and go and they will still not be done. In fact it just may be a case of they picked the wrong January.

Cross Posted at Power and Control