RE: Crack in Pipe at Japan Nuke Plant

["Migliore, Charles W" <Charles.W.Migliore@nspco.com>]

Hmmm. Crack in the regen and "no workers were exposed to radioactivity"? I
suppose all the work and inspections are done remotely in the land of the
rising sun. :)

Charles Migliore RRPT
charles.w.migliore@nspco.com

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Sandy Perle [SMTP:sandyfl@earthlink.net]
> Sent:	Tuesday, July 13, 1999 8:58 AM
> To:	Multiple recipients of list
> Subject:	Crack in Pipe at Japan Nuke Plant
> 
> Tuesday July 13 5:04 AM ET 
> 
> Crack in Pipe at Japan Nuke Plant
> 
> TOKYO (AP) - An investigation into a massive leak of radioactive 
> water at a nuclear power plant in western Japan has found an 3.2-inch 
> crack in a pipe, officials said today.  
> 
> No radiation leaked into the environment. The reactor was immediately 
> shut down Monday morning when a sensor inside detected radiation 
> levels that were twice the normal level.  
> 
> But about 89 tons of water used for cooling the No. 2 reactor had 
> leaked before the valve of the cracked pipe could be turned off 
> Monday evening, according to Japan Atomic Power Co., which runs the 
> plant.  
> 
> Workers in protective gear had to wait nearly 14 hours for the 
> temperature inside to cool down before they could enter the building 
> that houses the reactor, said company spokesman Yoshikazu Murabe. 
> None of the plant workers were exposed to radioactivity, he said.  
> 
> In an initial investigation, the crack was found in the curved 
> portion of a stainless steel pipe in the regenerative heat exchanger, 
> a device used to eliminate impurities from the water and adjust its 
> temperature.  
> 
> Murabe said plant officials, joined by several government inspectors, 
> were using sound waves on the pipe to determine the cause of the 
> crack.  
> 
> The reactor involved in Monday's breakdown started operating in 1987. 
> It had leaked water before, in December 1996. No leak of
> radioactivity into the environment was reported in that accident.
> 
> In the latest accident, the No. 2 plant had been running at a full 
> 1.16 million kilowatts, when plant engineers noticed the alarm.
> 
> Trust in Japan's nuclear industry has fallen in recent years 
> following a series of accidents and cover-ups by plant operators. A 
> fire in March 1997 exposed 37 workers to low-level radiation in a 
> fuel processing facility in northern Japan.  
> 
> Japan, a nation poor in natural resources, relies on nuclear power 
> for about one-third of its electricity. 
> 
> Sandy Perle
> E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 
> Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205
> 
> "The object of opening the mind, as of opening 
> the mouth, is to close it again on something solid"
>               - G. K. Chesterton -
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