JAPAN: NUCLEAR POWER: EARTHQUAKE CAUSES FIRE AND

UNCLAS TOKYO 003263 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TRGY JA SUBJECT: JAPAN: NUCLEAR POWER: EARTHQUAKE CAUSES FIRE AND LEAK OF RADIOACTIVE WATER AT NUCLEAR POWER PLANT 1) SUMMARY: The July 16, 2007 earthquake in western Japan caused a fire and radiation leak at Kashiwazki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) and METI ordered that the plant remain closed until pending safety checks. Reports by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) that the radiation posed no environmental hazard were confirmed by Post's contact at Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA). NISA's report to the IAEA, also forwarded to Post, reported that four of the plants seven reactors were operating at the time of the quake, and that all four tripped and automatically shut down. NISA reported a leak of radioactive water on the third floor of the reactor building of unit 6 (which was down for routine maintenance). The radioactivity discharged to the sea is estimated at approximately 60,000Bq in 1.2 cubic meters of water. The fire broke out in a transformer that supplies electricity to unit 3. End Summary. -------------- -------------- Initial Confusion RE: Leakage of Radioactive Water -------------- -------------- 2) On July 16, 2007 at 10:13am a 6.8 magnitude earthquake interrupted the daily operations at the largest NPP in the world, TEPCO's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa NPP located in Niigata Prefecture on the Sea of Japan. The jolt caused an electricity transformer of the No. 3 reactor to catch fire sending black smoke billowing into the air. By noon the fire was contained and TEPCO officials issued a statement that no radioactive leak was detected. Later in the day, however, TEPCO announced that water containing radioactive material was leaked but no adversarial impact on the environment was detected. EST officer spoke with Mr. Keiichi Yoshida, TEPCO Manager of Corporate Communications Department, who confirmed press reports. 3) According to Mr. Fumiaki Hayakawa, Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) Principal Deputy Director of Nuclear Emergency Preparedness Division, the amounts of radiation released was below the legal standard. Mr. Hiroyoshi Koizumi, Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization (JNES) Senior Officer of the International Affairs Group, Safety Information Research Division passed along an official assessment report, which was also sent to IAEA and NRC. Finally, Mr. Kazuko Nagura, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI),Specialist of Nuclear Safety, International Affairs Office said that the Japanese government is currently investigating the exact cause of the water leakage and will provide updates. Embassy will continue to pass along any new information obtained from Japanese government officials. -------------- FIRE AT TRANSFORMER UNIT NO.3 -------------- 4) The earthquake struck at 10:13am and by 10:27am, TEPCO officials reported to the fire department a minor fire at the unit #3 transformer that supplies electricity to the facility. By 11:58am the fire was extinguished. At the time of the earthquake, reactors No. 2,3,4, and 7 automatically shutdown as designed. The other three reactors were undergoing routine inspections. TEPCO issued a statement that no radioactivity leak was detected by any radiation monitoring systems. However, TEPCO was criticized for taking too much time to put an end to the fire. There was minor damage to a nearby service building, but it is not directly relevant to the operations at the reactor building. -------------- RADIOACTIVE WATER LEAKAGE AT UNIT NO. 6 -------------- 5) Mr. Yoshida stated that just before TEPCO's press conference around 1:00pm, a TEPCO employee discovered that possible water from the spent fuel pool was leaking. However, TEPCO did not inform the public because the leakage was not officially confirmed at the time of the press conference. After the appropriate authorities investigated the situation, TEPCO convened another press conference after 6:00pm and announced that small amounts of radioactive materials spilled into the Sea of Japan. 6) According to Japanese official reporting, the leaked water was found on the 3rd and mid-3rd floor of the reactor building No. 6, whose operation had been suspended at the time of the earthquake due to periodical inspections. The leakage of water was estimated at 0.6L, 2.8x10 2Bq on the 3rd floor and 0.9L, 1.6X10 4Bq on the mid-3rd floor. The amount of water emitted into the sea was estimated around 1.2 cubic meters and contained 60,000Bq of radioactivity. Government officials stated that this is the first time radioactive material spilled from a NPP because of an earthquake and they are thoroughly investigating the cause of the incident. (NOTE: Mr. Yoshida stated that radioactive material has leaked into the sea from the plant before but never resulting from an earthquake). Because of this incident, METI Minister Akira Amari told TEPCO's President Tsunehisa Katsumata not to resume operations of its NPP until preventive measures are taken and safety can be ensured. As of today, no unusual events were reported from other nuclear power stations relatively close to the stricken area, such as the NPPs at Shika and Fukushima. SCHIEFFER