Breaking – Fire alarms, Smoke Reported At Kariwa Nuclear Reactor

Media reports show massive amounts of smoke rising from the Kariwa nuclear reactor following the sounding of fire alarms, as officials deny any radiation has leaked.

Media outlets are reporting massive amounts of smoke rising from the Kariwa nuclear reactor as of 11:00PM tonight, local time. So far the only report in English comes via Enformable, which reports:

Japanese media outlets are reporting around 11 pm Sunday night, TEPCO’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant’s fire alarms activated, and smoke was seen rising from the Unit 5 area. According to TEPCO, external radiation monitors have not detected any increase of radiation dose around the station from a leak of radioactive materials.

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Source: Enformable

Lucas quotes a Niigate Nippoe news article, originally written in Japanese which translates as follows:

Unit 5 smoke from the Kashiwazaki nuclear power plant
Building heat exchanger, no injured
11.30 pm only 25 days, smoke is generated from seawater heat exchanger building of nuclear power plant Unit 5 of Kashiwazaki Kariwa TEPCO. According to TEPCO, injured is no leakage of radioactivity to the outside world has not been confirmed. Was dispatched to the headquarters of Kashiwazaki City Fire, smoke that had already subsided. It is determined that the “non-fire” is the same headquarters.

Where smoking is part of the pump bearing for supplying flowing seawater piping corrosion inhibitor. Pump was working. TEPCO are looking into the cause. Workers did not smoke came out when.

Unit 5 goes into a periodic inspection from May 25, stopped the operation. Seawater heat exchanger building, in the area does not handle radioactive materials, equipment for cooling the cooling water in seawater, such as equipment used in the reactor building has been established.

February 26, 2012 Niigata Nippo