#Fukushima I Nuke Plant Reactor 6 Turbine Bldg: Smoke From Compressed Air System Control Panel

Another minor incident at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, this time in the basement of the turbine building for Reactor 6, one of the only two reactors at Fukushima that remain in cold shutdown in the true sense (not the definition by the Noda administration) after the accident.

(Reactor 4 did not have the fuel in it because of the extensive maintenance to replace the core shroud, but Reactors 5 and 6 already had the fuel in the reactor cores as they were just coming out of the maintenance and getting ready to restart.)

As TEPCO seems to have stopped issuing the daily handouts for the press in English summarizing the plant status, here's my translation from the Japanese handout on July 2, 2012. (If there are foreign correspondents in Japan who are still interested in what TEPCO has to say on Fukushima I Nuke Plant, why don't you demand that TEPCO continue to issue these handouts in English?)

・H24/7/2 10:08 ６号機タービン建屋地下１階で制御用圧縮空気系（ＩＡ系）の空気除湿器の点検が完了し空気除湿器の電源を投入したところ、ＩＡ系制御盤から白煙の発生を確認、直ちに除湿器制御盤の電源を切断した。10:21に消防署へ連絡。10:25、白煙が発生していないことを確認。10:26、盤内変圧器に焦げ跡があることを確認。その後、浪江消防署および富岡消防署による現場確認の結果、変圧器外観からの目視では原因等の特定には至らなかったため、明日当該変圧器を取り外し後、再度調査することとした。なお、本事象による外部への放射能の影響はない。

7/2/2012 10:08AM After the maintenance of the air dehumidifier for the Compressed Air System (IA System) located on the first underground level in the Reactor 6 turbine building was completed and the air defunidifier was switched on, we noticed the white smoke coming from the IA System Control Panel. We immediately switched off the control panel for the air dehumidifier. We notified the fire department at 10:21AM. At 10:25AM, we confirmed that the white smoke had stopped. At 10:26, we found a burn at the transformer inside the control panel. Later, Namie Fire Department and Tomioka Fire Department did the site inspection, but the visual inspection of the exterior of the transformer didn't identify the cause. We will remove the transformer and investigate. This incident has no effect on the environment in terms of radioactivity.

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