Evening Report

From NEI’s Japan Earthquake launch page:

UPDATE AS OF 8:30 P.M. EDT, SUNDAY, MARCH 20:

Fukushima Daiichi
Reactors 5 and 6 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant are in cold shutdown, the International Atomic Energy Agency reports. This means that the reactors are in a safe mode, with cooling systems stable and under control, and with low temperatures and pressures.

When the quake struck, both reactors had been shut down for inspection and refueling, and had some fuel inside the reactor cores. Tokyo Electric Power Co. has been using a pair of diesel generators at reactor 6 to pump water through the reactors and to their used fuel pools.

An elite firefighting unit sprayed water over the spent fuel pool of reactor 3, Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency reported.

Japan's NISA reported that TEPCO early this morning began pumping sea water into the used fuel pool at reactor 2.

The company is checking individual circuits as it prepares to restore offsite electricity to the reactor's main control room, where it will be able to check and monitor plant systems. To restore power to reactors 3 and 4, TEPCO is considering laying power cables to bypass a radiation contaminated area.

The March 11 earthquake was stronger than the Daiichi plant was designed to withstand, the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum reported. Maximum ground acceleration near reactor 3 was 507 centimeters per second squared - more than the plant's design reference values of 449.

Fukushima Daini
All four reactors at Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant are in cold shutdown with normal cooling.

 

Small amounts of radioactive iodine - less than a third of the safety limit - have been found in tap water in Tokyo and five other areas, the Japanese government reported. Earlier, radiation had been found in milk and spinach in areas near the reactor.