TEPCO to begin building cover over Fukushima reactor Wed.
In this photo released by Tokyo Power Electric Co., the Fukushima Daiichi power plant's Unit 1 is seen after an explosion in Okumamachi, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, Saturday, March 12, 2011. The explosion at the nuclear power station Saturday destroyed the building housing the reactor after being hit by Friday's powerful earthquake and tsunami. (AP Photo/Tokyo Power Electric Co.)
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant said Tuesday it will begin in earnest on Wednesday work to install a giant covering over the plant's No. 1 reactor, with plans to complete it by the end of next month.
The covering, a tent-like structure made of steel frames and air-tight polyester sheets, is meant to prevent radioactive materials from spreading from the crippled reactor and stop rainwater from entering the reactor building, said Tokyo Electric Power Co.
When completed, the covering will be between 42 and 47 meters long and about 54 meters high. About 60 components are being brought to the seaside plant via the Pacific.
On Wednesday, a steel structure about 6.9 meters high that weighs about 30 tons is expected to be pulled up by a crane and installed at the southeast corner of the No. 1 reactor building.
In this June 12, 2011 photo released on July 5, 2011 by Tokyo Electric Power Co., masked workers in protective outfits prepare to drop one of sliding concrete slabs into a slit of the upper part of the sluice screen for Unit 2 reactor at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, in their effort to decrease the leak of radiation contaminated water to the ocean. (AP Photo/Tokyo Electric Power Co.)
The building housing the No. 1 reactor and those housing the Nos. 3 and 4 reactors at the plant were badly damaged due to explosions after tsunami caused by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck the plant on March 11.
Once the installation is completed at the reactor, Tokyo Electric will consider installing similar coverings for the Nos. 3 and 4 reactors, the operator said.
(Mainichi Japan) August 10, 2011
Read the story at The Mainichi Daily News http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110810p2g00m0dm010000c.html
Read the story at The Mainichi Daily News http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110810p2g00m0dm010000c.html
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