New robot sent into Fukushima reactor 1 to study radiation

The operator of Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant introduced a new robot into Reactor No. 1 Tuesday to measure radiation levels inside and evaluate its condition ahead of a future dismantling.

The self-propelled, remotely-operated robot is equipped with a video camera, thermometer as well as dosimeter - to measure radiation - among other sensors, said the Tokyo Electric Power Company in a statement.

Source: EFE

Explosion, fire at French nuclear reactor, no radiation risk involved

An explosion and fire took place Thursday at a French nuclear power plant in the region of Normandie and according to the power utility company that operates the plant, no radiation was released.

The explosion was reported at an Electricite de France (EDF) nuclear power plant in Flamanville, north France.

"Flamanville 1, a fire was controlled in a non-nuclear zone," EDF said on its official Twitter account. "No casualties and no consequences for safety and the environment," the energy giant added.

Initial reports mentioned five people suffered from smoke inhalation but no radiation risk was reported, according to the local prefecture.

According to the EDF Flamanville's website, the incident took place at 9:45 am in the engine-room of reactor number 1, that has been in service since 1986.

The reactor was automatically shut down and switched off the national grid in accordance with safety protocols.

Flamanville also has a second working nuclear reactor on the site. A third model, an EPR water pressurised reactor, a third-generation design that is also being built in the United Kingdom, is currently under construction at Flamanville but is years behind schedule.

The prefect of La Manche, Jacques Witkowski declared the incident as "over."

Although the cause was not yet known, an overheated ventilation system in the engine room appeared to have caught fire and affected a transformer that exploded.

The transformer's electrical insulation provoked a fire that belched thick clouds of smoke, but there was no radiation risk involved, Witkowski said.

A technical inquiry will examine the causes of the incident, he said.

EDF also released a statement saying the fire "is under control."

According to EDF, Flamanville 3 "is due to go commercial in 2018," the company said in a statement. "It will be the first in the series of a new generation of nuclear reactors," it added.

However, the delayed project has been the target of protests by environmental groups in France and the UK.

Source: EFE

Extremely high level of radiation detected inside Fukushima reactor

The Fukushima nuclear plant operator has detected an extremely high level of radiation inside its No. 2 reactor, based on an analysis carried out by a robot, a company spokesperson told EFE Friday.

This will hamper the process of dismantling its installations, according to Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO).

The operator estimates a radiation level of around 530 sieverts per hour inside the reactor's containment vessel and just beneath the vessel's core, a level that would be deadly to humans.

The power company made the estimate after analyzing images obtained by a robot, the first one sent inside the No. 2 reactor, the spokesperson said.

Since a dose of just one sievert per day can prove very harmful for human beings and can even lead to death, the estimated levels inside the reactors - capable of even damaging electronic devices - have made it impossible for human operators to access the reactor.

Reactors No. 1, 2 and 3 suffered partial meltdowns due to an earthquake and a tsunami that hit Japan in March 2011.

Determining the exact condition of the nuclear fuel rods in the reactors is key to understanding how they can be managed and dismantled.

TEPCO technicians believe there is enough melted fuel in reactor No. 2 to perforate the pressure vessel and accumulate at the bottom of the containment vessel.

It is suspected that the residues, a mixture of the melted fuel and broken pieces of the core protection system, could be the reason for the high radiation levels inside the containment vessel.

However, TEPCO said no new radioactive leakages from the reactor have been detected, nor did it confirm any fuel accumulation at the bottom of the containment vessel.

The new data comes a few days after TEPCO said that video captured by the robot showed a dark substance under a metallic platform at the bottom of the pressure vessel, which could have come from the nuclear fuel rods.

The company is planning to carry out more analysis and will soon send another robot to continue examining the reactor.

The high radiation levels pose new obstacles for the removal of these nuclear fuel rods, necessary for the process of dismantling the reactor, which is expected to take around 30 to 40 years as it is impossible for humans to enter inside the reactor.

The Fukushima incident is the worst nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

Source: EFE