Descriptions:
Tohoku Electric Power Co., Ltd., which began “loading nuclear fuel” into the reactor on September 3 in preparation for the restart of Unit 2 of the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant, released a progress report on the 6th. The work is proceeding smoothly, and the resumption of work is planned for around November. Press release: “Before the fuel loading process is released to the press, Tohoku Electric Power will hold a preliminary briefing. The press will change into such special work clothes and enter the reactor building.” “Fuel loading” is the first stage of work carried out at a nuclear reactor in preparation for its restart. Tohoku Electric Power began this work on September 3 and reported the progress to the press on September 6. Fuel assemblies are lifted out of the spent fuel pool one by one using a special crane and transferred to the reactor vessel. Two workers on the crane and one worker in the equipment room are required to lift the fuel assemblies one by one from the spent equipment. Fuel pool one group of people changes every three hours and repeats the work. It is planned to transport 560 fuel assemblies within a week, and it is expected that 180 fuel assemblies will be transported by 18:00 on the 6th. The work is going smoothly. Nobuyuki Shinkawa, director of environment and fuel of Tohoku Electric Power Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant: “Since September 3, we have been working with a sense of urgency to ensure safety as the top priority in fuel loading, which is one of the processes aimed at ensuring safety. We are restarting work for the first time in 13 years. However, we will continue to carefully check each work procedure and carry out the work carefully and reliably, confirming the serviceability of the equipment.”