On target for January cold shutdown - Reactor 3 set for injection of nitrogen [View All]

On target for January cold shutdown - Reactor 3 set for injection of nitrogen
Kyodo

Tokyo Electric Power Co. was set Thursday to inject nitrogen into the Fukushima No. 1 atomic plant's reactor 3 to reduce the risk of further hydrogen explosions, a significant step forward in the effort to contain the nuclear crisis that started March 11.

If successful, it will complete Tepco's goal of injecting the inert gas into all three crippled reactors by mid-July.

The utility and the government believe restoration work is basically on track as outlined in a road map. Tepco has already started operating a new system to circulate water around the three reactors to keep the nuclear fuel inside cool.

Under the road map, Tepco hopes to stabilize the crippled reactors by mid-July as the first step toward achieving cold shutdown by January at the latest.

Tepco and the government...

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110714x2.html


This article is glossing over the difficulties a bit, but progress at getting control of the situation is being made, albeit with many stumbles along the way.