Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd (JNFL) reported that 650 litres of water containing radioactive materials had spilled from the used fuel pool at the reprocessing plant in the village of Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture due to the 7.5 magnitude earthquake the previous day.
The company said that the pool’s water level remained within the normal range and that there were no safety issues. JNFL said workers on duty discovered water overflowing while checking the site and confirmed that the volume exceeded the 100-litre threshold that requires public disclosure. The incident was reported to the Secretariat of the Nuclear Regulation Authority. According to JFNL, all the water has been recovered, and no contamination was reportedly found on the floor.
Meanwhile, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (Tepco) said that no new abnormalities were found at the Fukushima Daiichi or Fukushima Daini NPPs. However, the release of treated water from Fukushima Daiichi was halted for about 15 hours after a tsunami advisory was issued for the coast.
Operations continued at Tohoku Electric Power Co’s Onagawa NPP in Miyagi Prefecture after no abnormalities were found at the unit 2 reactor, which had been operating. Nothing abnormal was found at Higashidori NPP in Aomori Prefecture.
In response to the issuance of a “subsequent earthquake advisory” for a possible megaquake off northernmost Hokkaido NRA had called on nuclear facilities in Aomori, Miyagi, Fukushima and Ibaraki prefectures to review their emergency response systems.
