IAEA Update On Japan Nuclear Crisis

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The IAEA has released a new update on the ongoing work to resolve the situation at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant.

Following is a that report, as released by the IAEA.

At Unit 1 workers have advanced the restoration of off-site electricity and lighting in the Unit’s main control room was recovered as of 24 March, 11:30 UTC. They are now checking the availability of the cooling system.

While the pressure in the reactor vessel remains high, Japanese authorities are reporting that it has stabilized.

At Unit 2 engineers are working for the recovery of lighting in the main control room, and the instrumentation and cooling systems.

At Unit 3, around 120 tonnes of seawater was injected in the spent fuel pool via the cooling and purification line. The operation was carried out between 23 March, 20:35 UTC and 24 March, 07:05 UTC.

Satellite image of the Unit 3 moments after the second explosion on 14 March, 11:04 JST
Satellite image of the Unit 3 moments after the second explosion on 14 March, 11:04 JST

Work was under way for the recovery of the instruments and cooling systems. However, it had to be suspended because three workers were exposed to elevated levels of radiation on 24 March.

At Unit 4, the spent fuel pool was sprayed with around 150 tonnes of water using concrete pump truck. The operation was carried out between 24 March, 05:36 UTC and 06:30 UTC of the same day.

At Units 5 and 6, repair of the temporary pump for Residual Heat Removal (RHR) was completed as of 24 March, 07:14 UTC, and cooling started again 21 minutes later.

At the Common Spent Fuel, the power supply was restored as of 24 March, 06:37 UTC and cooling started again 28 minutes later. Work is now under way for the recovery of the lighting and instrumentation systems.

As of 24 March, 09:40 UTC, the water temperature of the pool was around 73 °C.

As of 24 March, 10:30 UTC workers continue to inject seawater into the reactor pressure vessels of Units 1, 2 and 3 and are preparing to inject pure water.

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