Japan says it has so far detected no abnormalities at nuclear power plants
March 16, 2022
Motoko Rich,
New York Times
Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority inspected several nuclear power plants after a magnitude 7.3 earthquake hit late Wednesday night off the coast of Fukushima, the site of a nuclear meltdown in 2011.
As of 1 a.m. Thursday, the authority said that it had not detected any abnormalities at plants in Fukushima; in Onagawa in Miyagi Prefecture; or in Tokai in Ibaraki Prefecture.
Tokyo Electric Power Company said that a fire alarm was still sounding in one of the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, where the 2011 meltdown occurred. The plant has been shut down and undergoing an enormous cleanup since the disaster 11 years ago.
Water pumps for spent fuel cooling pools at a separate power plant in Fukushima were down early Thursday, but Tokyo Electric said there was still water in the pools for now, and that one pump had returned to operation before 2 a.m., according to NHK, the public broadcaster.
The quake left millions of Japanese without power, but Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that Tokyo Electric was expected to be able to quickly restore service.