No. 2 Reactor at Onagawa N-Plant Resumed after Problem

Sendai, Miyagi Pref., May 18 (Jiji Press)–Tohoku Electric Power Co. said Monday that the No. 2 reactor at its Onagawa nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan was restarted at 4 p.m. the same day after it was halted for inspection following a problem last week. The company said that its schedule to start the reactor’s commercial operation on June 9 remains unchanged at the moment. The No. 2 unit at the power station in Miyagi Prefecture was brought back online May 11 following a routine checkup. On Friday afternoon, a worker confirmed that steam containing a small amount of radiation was leaking out of a sump to collect wastewater from equipment in the basement of the reactor’s turbine building. The reactor was halted again Saturday, and Tohoku Electric conducted an inspection, in which a 6-centimeter-long piece of metal was found stuck in a valve connected to the sump, reducing the sealing performance. It is believed that the metal piece, from another valve, entered the pipe during a past inspection and became stuck this time. The company said it will thoroughly check the inside of the pipes. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]