Nuclear plant near Japan quake epicenter suffers malfunctions

KASHIWAZAKI, Japan – More than a day after a powerful earthquake shook northern Japan, officials revealed Tuesday that a nuclear plant suffered a long list of problems including the leakage of radioactive water, an outbreak of fires and burst pipes.\nThe malfunctions at the Kashiwazaki power plant, and the delays in acknowledging them, are likely to feed concerns about the safety of Japan’s 55 nuclear reactors, which supply 30 percent of the quake-prone country’s electricity and have suffered a long string of accidents and cover-ups.\nTokyo Electric Power Co. said a total of 50 cases of malfunctioning and trouble had been found at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant since Monday’s magnitude 6.6 quake, which killed at least nine people and left 13,000 homeless.\nThe company said they were still inspecting the plant, which shut down automatically after the quake, and further problems could emerge.\nStill, TEPCO spokesman Kensuke Takeuchi called the instances discovered so far “minor troubles” and said they posed no threat to people or the environment.\nIn five of the reactors, major exhaust pipes were knocked out of place and TEPCO was investigating whether they had leaked radioactive materials, the statement said.\nTEPCO also said about 100 drums containing low-level nuclear waste fell at the plant during the quake and were found a day later, some of the lids open.\nThe company also said a small amount of radioactive materials cobalt-60 and chromium-51 had been emitted into the atmosphere from an exhaust stack. Monday’s quake also initially caused a small fire at an electrical transformer in the sprawling plant.\nJapan’s nuclear power plants have suffered a string of accidents and cover-ups amid deep concerns that they are vulnerable in earthquakes.\nThe Kariwa nuclear power plant, the world’s largest in terms of power output capacity, stands near the epicenter of Monday’s magnitude 6.6 quake.\nMonday’s quake initially triggered a small fire at an electrical transformer in the sprawling plant. But it was announced 12 hours later that the temblor also caused a leak of water containing radioactive material.\nLater Tuesday, TEPCO said a small amount of radioactive materials cobalt-60 and chromium-51 had been emitted into the atmosphere from an exhaust stack but posed no danger to the environment. It was unclear if that leak was caused by the quake.\nJapanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe criticized the delay in notifying the public.\n“They raised the alert too late. I have sent stern instructions that such alerts must be raised seriously and swiftly,” Abe told reporters in Tokyo. “Those involved should repent their actions.”\nMasanori Hamada, a professor of earthquake engineering at Tokyo’s Waseda University, said the quake showed the government should push to increase the quake-resistance standards of its reactors.