TEPCO pumps nitrogen into reactor to avert blast
07 Apr 2011
According to Tokyo Electric Power Co the operator of the the Fukushima Daiichii Nuclear Power Plant, it has started pumping nitrogen gas into the containment vessel of reactor number 1.
According to experts, it could take about six days to pump in a total of 6,000 cubic metres of nitrogen gas.
The plant was crippled by the earthquake and tsunami of 11 March.
Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for the government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, terming the operation as a ''preventive measure'' ruled out any ''immediate danger'' of explosion.
Meanwhile, the operator has been instructed by the agency to monitor radioactivity in surrounding areas and to fully disclose information. Nishiyama added that nitrogen gas would be also injected into reactors number 2 and 3 at a later stage.
According to TEPCO's estimates around 70 per cent of the nuclear fuel rods have been damaged at reactor 1, 30 per cent and 25 per cent of the fuel rods have been damaged in reactor 2 and reactor 3 respectively.
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