JAPAN > Japan attempts "cold shutdown" at reactor no. 1

The great nuclear experiment...

Workers preparing to enter Fukushima reactor 1 // Source: asiaone.com

Officials at the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) hope to bring reactor no. 1 at the beleaguered Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to a "cold shutdown" by the end of the week; plant operators will attempt to bring the temperature inside the reactor below the boiling point of water so that it will no longer produce radioactive steam; the building housing reactor no. 1 must be vented so that all the radioactive air that has accumulated is released allowing workers to approach the reactor; once inside workers will inject cold water into the reactor's primary containment structure; injecting tons of water into a damaged containment unit that houses uranium makes some scientists uneasy  Read more