Fukushima N-Reactor 3 Cooling System Stopped Manually Before Explosion

Is it No. 3 or No. 1? Date is for #3 explosion. If the valve didn't work because the battery was out, isn't it still a battery failure?

 

 

Fukushima N-Reactor 3 Cooling System Stopped Manually Before Explosion
Tokyo, Dec. 22 (Jiji Press)--A cooling system for the No. 3 reactor of the crippled nuclear power plant of Tokyo Electric Power Co. <9501> was switched off manually, leading to the reactor's explosion three days after the plant was hit by the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami on March 11, TEPCO said Thursday.

   A worker at the Fukushima No. 1 plant voluntarily stopped the high-pressure coolant injection (HPCI) system, one of emergency cooling apparatuses for the reactor's core, for fear of damage on the system and resulting radiation leaks, TEPCO said.

   Instead, the worker tried to cool the core by injecting water using a diesel-powered pump.
But because a valve to release the air pressure inside the reactor failed to work as its battery was dead, water did not enter, and the hydrogen explosion occurred shortly past 11 a.m. on March 14 JST, the company explained.
Previously, TEPCO told that the HPCI system stopped working because its battery ran out.

(2011/12/23-01:46)
jen.jiji.com

by MaryW12/22/2011 6:52:23 PM 10:52 AM