The operator of Japan’s Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant halted the cooling of a spent fuel pool due to a pump malfunction. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) reported that the alarm for the plant’s No. 1 reactor’s pool went off on Sunday afternoon. Despite the suspension, radiation levels around the plant remained stable, with no reported injuries.
TEPCO mentioned that smoke detection led to the shutdown of the pump, disrupting the pool’s cooling system. The company assured that investigations into the malfunction’s cause were ongoing, and efforts were underway to swiftly repair the pump to resume cooling operations. The pool’s water temperature was at 26.5 degrees Celsius when the cooling was stopped, with approximately 8 days before reaching the 65-degree Celsius safety threshold.
The Fukushima Daini plant, located 12 km south of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, faced a similar fate after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Both facilities are being decommissioned by TEPCO following the disaster. In a separate development, Japan initiated the 19th round of discharging nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean, with around 7,800 tonnes set for release in this round.
