Waste disposal problem forces Japan power company to shut down nuclear reactor
A Japanese power company is investigating a waste disposal problem that forced it to shut down a reactor at a nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan, a plant spokesman said Sunday.
No radiation was leaked in the incident at the No. 3 reactor at the Onagawa nuclear power plant in Miyagi prefecture Saturday afternoon, plant operator Tohoku Electric Power Co. said in a statement.
Power plant workers manually shut the reactor down after an abnormal jump in hydrogen concentration in the reactor's gaseous waste disposal system, plant spokesman Toshio Abe said.
Workers at the plant detected the gaseous buildup at midday; the reactor had only resumed operations about 12 hours earlier following the completion of a six-month-long regular inspection, Tohoku Electric Power said.
Officials decided to shut down the reactor a few hours later to investigate the cause, the statement said. No radiation was leaked and no other anomalies were detected, it said.
The 825,000-kW reactor was to be closed indefinitely while Tohoku Electric Power Co. officials completed their investigation, Abe said. The plant's No. 1 reactor was operating normally, but the No. 2 reactor has been closed since mid-October for regular inspections, he said.
Japan relies heavily on its nuclear power program, which supplies about 30 percent of its electricity. The country's largest nuclear power plant was shut down in July for repairs and tests after an earthquake led to a raft of radioactive leaks and malfunctions.
--- Vocabulary---
reactor : 原子炉
radiation : 放射物
power plant : 発電所
leak : 漏れる、小便をする、漏らす
manually : 手動で
abnormal : 異常な
jump : 急上昇
hydrogen : 水素
concentration : 濃度
gaseous : ガス
spokesman : 広報担当者
detect : 見つける、見破る
buildup : 積み上げ、終結
midday : 正午、真昼
resume : 再開する、復旧させる
following : -の後に
six-month-long : 6ヶ月間開催される
completion : 完成、完了
anomaly : 例外、異常
indefinitely : 無期限に
rely on : 頼る、信頼する
heavily : 重く、大量に
supply : 供給する、提供する
electricity : 電気、電力
led to : -にいたる、-をもたらす (lead to)
raft or : 大量の
raft : いかだ、救命ボート
radioactive : 放射能を持った、放射能による
malfunction : 機能不良、異常、故障
A Japanese power company is investigating a waste disposal problem that forced it to shut down a reactor at a nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan, a plant spokesman said Sunday.
No radiation was leaked in the incident at the No. 3 reactor at the Onagawa nuclear power plant in Miyagi prefecture Saturday afternoon, plant operator Tohoku Electric Power Co. said in a statement.
Power plant workers manually shut the reactor down after an abnormal jump in hydrogen concentration in the reactor's gaseous waste disposal system, plant spokesman Toshio Abe said.
Workers at the plant detected the gaseous buildup at midday; the reactor had only resumed operations about 12 hours earlier following the completion of a six-month-long regular inspection, Tohoku Electric Power said.
Officials decided to shut down the reactor a few hours later to investigate the cause, the statement said. No radiation was leaked and no other anomalies were detected, it said.
The 825,000-kW reactor was to be closed indefinitely while Tohoku Electric Power Co. officials completed their investigation, Abe said. The plant's No. 1 reactor was operating normally, but the No. 2 reactor has been closed since mid-October for regular inspections, he said.
Japan relies heavily on its nuclear power program, which supplies about 30 percent of its electricity. The country's largest nuclear power plant was shut down in July for repairs and tests after an earthquake led to a raft of radioactive leaks and malfunctions.
--- Vocabulary---
reactor : 原子炉
radiation : 放射物
power plant : 発電所
leak : 漏れる、小便をする、漏らす
manually : 手動で
abnormal : 異常な
jump : 急上昇
hydrogen : 水素
concentration : 濃度
gaseous : ガス
spokesman : 広報担当者
detect : 見つける、見破る
buildup : 積み上げ、終結
midday : 正午、真昼
resume : 再開する、復旧させる
following : -の後に
six-month-long : 6ヶ月間開催される
completion : 完成、完了
anomaly : 例外、異常
indefinitely : 無期限に
rely on : 頼る、信頼する
heavily : 重く、大量に
supply : 供給する、提供する
electricity : 電気、電力
led to : -にいたる、-をもたらす (lead to)
raft or : 大量の
raft : いかだ、救命ボート
radioactive : 放射能を持った、放射能による
malfunction : 機能不良、異常、故障
