The heavily damaged No. 4 reactor building and its spent fuel pool at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant can withstand earthquakes with intensities of upper 6 on the Japanese scale of 7, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Aug. 30.
The heavily damaged No. 4 reactor building and its spent fuel pool at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant can withstand earthquakes with intensities of upper 6 on the Japanese scale of 7, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Aug. 30.
The utility said it confirmed the strength of the building after conducting a seismic analysis. The reactor building was rocked by a hydrogen explosion after the onset of the accident caused by the magnitude-9.0 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.
TEPCO said it found no major damage in walls supporting the storage pool on the top floor.
It also said the building now has almost the same strength it had before the disaster because the removal of rubble created by the explosion has decreased its weight.
The seismic study is part of TEPCO's preparations to start removing nuclear fuel from the pool in December 2013.
The company also said it plans to build a steel frame that will hold steel sheets covering the No. 4 reactor building to prevent radioactive substances from spreading.