Part of Fukushima plant back online

November 09, 2011

One of the reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant that received devastating damage from a March tsunami has been restarted and is back online.

The Number 2 reactor was reported to be functioning correctly, although the plant’s equipment detected radioactive xenon in the reactor gas. Xenon could be a sign of unexpected nuclear reactions, so Tokyo Electric Power workers pumped boric acid into the reactor to counteract any unwanted activity. The company and Japan’s Nuclear Industrial Safety Agency are investigating the source of the xenon. “We have confirmed that the reactor is stable and we don’t believe this will have any impact on our future work,” a TEPCO spokesman reported.

As a result of concerns about the safety of nuclear energy since the Fukushima disaster, 43 of the nation’s 54 reactors are offline for problems or inspections. Normally, nuclear power supplies about a third of Japan’s electricity.