japan's chubu electric faces moment of truth for damaged nuclear reactor - stainless steel natural gas grill

* Leaks indicate that Japan's largest nuclear reactor shutdown rate since May 2011 exceeds the usual rate of corrosion and damage * The Company will have to continue to purchase oil and gas to make up for Risa Maeda TOKYO August 2 (Reuters)-
After assessing this month the damage to seawater penetration in the world's first known reactor core, the central power company may face the prospect of retiring Japan's largest nuclear reactor.
More than a year ago, the company's Bingang nuclear power plant was shut down after the Fukushima disaster due to safety reasons, and the water was low pollution.
There is no radiation penetration inside.
Experts say the turbine building of Unit 5 indicates serious damage to the core.
"We have not yet decided whether the unit is retired or whether it can be operated after repair.
In order to make a decision, we are conducting an assessment, "said Miyazaki Minxiong, spokesman for central power, on Thursday.
Retirement or long downtime means Central Electric will have to continue to develop oil and gas markets to operate fossils.
The fuel station has intensified the plight of Japan's third-largest fuel station. Maximum utility
According to Reuters calculations, the company has to import an additional 5 million tons of liquefied natural gas per year of 3,617-
The Hamaoka plant in MW is closed, assuming that the shortage of power generation is completely solved by natural gasfired plants.
Sea water enters
At the beginning of last May, the central power company closed Bingang according to the order at that time.
Naoto Kan, Japan's prime minister, was overwhelmed by fears of a major earthquake nearby, triggering a tsunami, two months after the Fukushima disaster.
With the Tanabata suspension-year-
The old unit with a capacity of 1,380 MW was started and used to cool the steam from the boiling water reactor into the core after the burst pipe damaged one of its heat exchangers.
About 400,000 liters (88,000 gallons)of corrosion-
Causing seawater to enter the turbine building and 5,000 liters into the reactor itself.
This extremely rare event triggered a survey that revealed widespread corrosion in the labyrinth of reactor buildings and secondary unit pipelines, pumps and steel partitions.
Just on Monday, the utility said it found water in turbine buildings adjacent to Bingang No. 1 contaminated with low levels of radiation5 reactor.
"Operators are required to provide more detailed data to make judgments.
But we should assume that the strength of the reactor has been damaged, "said Atsushi Kasai, a former nuclear power technical consultant at Shizuoka County, which is located about 200 kilometers from Shizuoka County (120 miles)
Southwest of Tokyo.
The central power company said no radiation leaked into the environment, but at 13-meter-
The high cooling tank next to the reactor confirms the abnormal rapid corrosion of the stainless steel wallsteel tank.
Since most foreign reactors use river water to cool steam turbines for power generation, there are no similar incidents reported and no data available for comparison, Japan's atomic regulators, the Nuclear and Industrial security agency said.
If Chubu Electric finds serious damage in the reactor pressure vessel after the fuel rod is removed, although efforts are made to wash out the salt water, the damage may be irreparable.
Toyoshi Fuketa, deputy director general of Japan's Atomic Energy Agency, said that at least, corrosion deposits may have formed a hard scale on the fuel rod, making it unusable, the regulatory team who reviewed the findings of the central power company.
"They have to think seriously about what they are going to do," Fuketa told Reuters . ".
The panel focused on the following issues:
Par welding may accelerate metal fatigue in burst pipes, or if the structure of the heat exchanger is the culprit.
The Central Electric Power Company said on Monday that the plant's tsunami defense work had been completed, including one.
18-meter pond on the elevated river embankment at an altitude of 6 km, the cost is 0 billion yen ($1. 79 billion)
I need a year longer than planned and will not finish until next December.
For the April-
In the quarter of June, the net loss in the central region was 12.
Due to the additional fuel and maintenance costs of operating a fossil fuel plant, 54 billion yen.
The company did not estimate the cost of repairs. 5 unit.
No problem at the station. 3 and No.
There were four units during the shutdown last year.
The company decided to retire in 2008. 1 and No.
The two units were about 10 years ahead of schedule, as the cost was higher in order to meet the stricter seismic standards introduced in 2006.
The company will meet with the regulator's team on August 10 and plans to close the investigation by the end of this year. ($1=78.
2400 yen)(
Reported by Risa Maeda;
Alan Sheldrick and Clarence Fernandez editor)