The quake forced crews at the plant to evacuate as it rattled northern Japan late Thursday night. They returned to the plant about eight and a half hours later, and no fresh damage to the facility had been reported Friday afternoon, the Tokyo Electric Power Company said. Before the quake, engineers had been injecting non-flammable nitrogen into the No. 1 reactor containment shell to counter a buildup of hydrogen in the chamber. That process continued while the plant was evacuated, and so did the pumping of fresh water into that reactor and units 2 and 3, said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency. Hydrogen buildup is a symptom of overheated fuel rods in the cores of the reactors, which plant workers have been struggling to keep under control since the earthquake and tsunami. The nitrogen injections are aimed at displacing oxygen in the reactor shell, reducing the possibility of an explosion -- a chance Tokyo Electric called "extremely low." Edano, the Japanese government's point man on the crisis, said the country may set standards for long-term radiation exposure that would effectively extend the evacuation zone around the damaged plant. "It is time for the government to consider setting another category for accumulated exposure," Edano told reporters. "The safety of the people is the first priority, and social needs come after that." There is no timetable for a decision, Edano said. Readings released Thursday by the country's science ministry from areas outside that zone indicated that long-term exposure could top the government's one-time standards for an evacuation within a few months. Some of those are in towns to the northwest, where prevailing winds have blown radioactive particles released from the Fukushima Daiichi plant. The recorded doses are far below those that would cause radiation sickness but could pose a long-term risk of cancer, according to medical experts. The anti-nuclear group Greenpeace and the International Atomic Energy Agency raised alarms about the spread of radioactivity beyond the 30-kilometer zone in late March.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Japanese workers return to the fight at crippled nuclear plant
Tokyo (CNN) -- Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station returned to the plant Friday after a strong aftershock forced them to leave a day earlier, the plant's owner said. 
The quake forced crews at the plant to evacuate as it rattled northern Japan late Thursday night. They returned to the plant about eight and a half hours later, and no fresh damage to the facility had been reported Friday afternoon, the Tokyo Electric Power Company said. Before the quake, engineers had been injecting non-flammable nitrogen into the No. 1 reactor containment shell to counter a buildup of hydrogen in the chamber. That process continued while the plant was evacuated, and so did the pumping of fresh water into that reactor and units 2 and 3, said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency. Hydrogen buildup is a symptom of overheated fuel rods in the cores of the reactors, which plant workers have been struggling to keep under control since the earthquake and tsunami. The nitrogen injections are aimed at displacing oxygen in the reactor shell, reducing the possibility of an explosion -- a chance Tokyo Electric called "extremely low." Edano, the Japanese government's point man on the crisis, said the country may set standards for long-term radiation exposure that would effectively extend the evacuation zone around the damaged plant. "It is time for the government to consider setting another category for accumulated exposure," Edano told reporters. "The safety of the people is the first priority, and social needs come after that." There is no timetable for a decision, Edano said. Readings released Thursday by the country's science ministry from areas outside that zone indicated that long-term exposure could top the government's one-time standards for an evacuation within a few months. Some of those are in towns to the northwest, where prevailing winds have blown radioactive particles released from the Fukushima Daiichi plant. The recorded doses are far below those that would cause radiation sickness but could pose a long-term risk of cancer, according to medical experts. The anti-nuclear group Greenpeace and the International Atomic Energy Agency raised alarms about the spread of radioactivity beyond the 30-kilometer zone in late March.
The quake forced crews at the plant to evacuate as it rattled northern Japan late Thursday night. They returned to the plant about eight and a half hours later, and no fresh damage to the facility had been reported Friday afternoon, the Tokyo Electric Power Company said. Before the quake, engineers had been injecting non-flammable nitrogen into the No. 1 reactor containment shell to counter a buildup of hydrogen in the chamber. That process continued while the plant was evacuated, and so did the pumping of fresh water into that reactor and units 2 and 3, said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency. Hydrogen buildup is a symptom of overheated fuel rods in the cores of the reactors, which plant workers have been struggling to keep under control since the earthquake and tsunami. The nitrogen injections are aimed at displacing oxygen in the reactor shell, reducing the possibility of an explosion -- a chance Tokyo Electric called "extremely low." Edano, the Japanese government's point man on the crisis, said the country may set standards for long-term radiation exposure that would effectively extend the evacuation zone around the damaged plant. "It is time for the government to consider setting another category for accumulated exposure," Edano told reporters. "The safety of the people is the first priority, and social needs come after that." There is no timetable for a decision, Edano said. Readings released Thursday by the country's science ministry from areas outside that zone indicated that long-term exposure could top the government's one-time standards for an evacuation within a few months. Some of those are in towns to the northwest, where prevailing winds have blown radioactive particles released from the Fukushima Daiichi plant. The recorded doses are far below those that would cause radiation sickness but could pose a long-term risk of cancer, according to medical experts. The anti-nuclear group Greenpeace and the International Atomic Energy Agency raised alarms about the spread of radioactivity beyond the 30-kilometer zone in late March.
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