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Leaked nuclear reactor shut down today |
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July 26, 2000
TOKYO (AP) - A reactor at a nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan was shut down for a suspected fuel leak Tuesday, two days after a small amount of radioactive water spilled at another plant nearby. There was no danger of radiation escaping into the environment in either incident, according to Tokyo Electric Power Co., the utility that runs both plants. The latest shutdown came after monitoring equipment inside the reactor at the Fukushima No. 2 nuclear plant showed radioactivity at three times normal levels, company spokesman Soichi Takeguchi said. Water samples from the reactor contained radioactivity at 400 times the normal level, pointing to a possible leak of the uranium fuel into the water in the reactor, he said. On Sunday, 150 liters (39 gallons) of radioactive water leaked at the Fukushima No. 1 plant after officials shut down a reactor for an oil leak. The plants are both in Fukushima Prefecture (state), 240 kilometers (150 miles) northeast of Tokyo. On Friday of last week, another reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 plant was shut down after a gas leak was detected in a tank where steam used to power the turbines was turned back into water. No radioactive material leaked outside, but the reactor was shut down as a cautionary measure, with officials speculating a 6.1 magnitude earthquake that struck off Japan's eastern coast may have caused the leak. Now, five of the 10 reactors at the two Fukushima plants have been shut down, including two for routine inspections. There will no impact on the electricity supply to the Tokyo area, Takeguchi said. Public faith in Japan's aggressive nuclear power program was shaken by an accident Sept. 30 last year at a fuel-processing plant that took the lives of two workers, seriously injured a third and exposed dozens of people to less harmful radiation. The accident in Tokaimura, 110 kilometers (70 miles) northeast of Tokyo, which set off an uncontrolled atomic reaction, was Japan's worst nuclear accident. |