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02 January 2024
Japan’s nuclear plant operators reported some minor damage, with no public protection concerns, following the 7. 6 magnitude earthquake that struck Ishikawa Prefecture on Monday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said it contacted Japan’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority and had been informed that “there were no anomalies at the nuclear power plants in the affected area,” adding that the company would continue to monitor the situation.
By Tuesday at 13:00 GMT the earthquake, the largest since 2011, was known to have caused the deaths of 48 people, with rescuers continuing to search rubble for survivors.
The nuclear plant closest to the epicenter of the earthquake is Hokuriku Electric Power Company’s Shika nuclear plant, which has been closed since the Fukushima Daiichi turn of fate in 2011. As aftershocks continued, regular inspections were carried out at the plant, but there was no major damage. found. reported, with cooling and monitoring systems operational, the company said.
A leak is known and is being investigated in a water tank that materializes the cooling ponds, although the operator claims that this does not affect the cooling functions of the plant. There was also an inclination of several centimeters of a four-meter-high metal component. but the rest are said to be “in good condition and there is no threat of collapse. “The automatic chimney extinguishing formula was activated in the domain of a transformer in the vicinity of Unit 2, but no chimney was detected.
The Japan Times reported that at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings’ (Tepco) Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant officials “confirmed Monday that water from a spent fuel pool spilled over due to the earthquake, but that no abnormalities in operation had been detected”. In an update issued on Tuesday, Tepco said: “At the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, the readings on the stack monitors and monitoring posts installed at the power plant site boundaries are within normal fluctuation ranges, and there is no radioactivity impact on the outside world. The spent fuel pool cooling system is in operation at all units, and there are no abnormalities in fuel cooling. As of 12:25 pm on 2 January, all patrols had been completed and no abnormalities caused by this earthquake were confirmed.”
Before the March 2011 turn of fate at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, Japan’s 54 reactors provided about 30 percent of the country’s electricity. However, within 14 months of the twist of fate, the country’s nuclear production came to a halt pending an update of regulations with the arrival of new protective controls and regulations. So far, 12 of Japan’s 33 operating reactors have passed inspections confirming that they comply with new safety regulations and have resumed operations. Seventeen other reactors have called for their reactivation.