Onagawa Unit 2 Shut Down Temporarily After Small Water Leak
The No. 2 reactor at the Onagawa nuclear plant will be taken offline around Saturday because a valve is leaking a modest amount of water containing trace radioactivity.
Operators of the Onagawa nuclear facility announced that the plant's No. 2 reactor will be halted around Saturday due to a small water leak from a valve. The leak, measured at approximately 0.2 ton per hour, contains a low level of radioactive material, but monitoring shows no elevated radiation in nearby Miyagi Prefecture. Tohoku Electric Power Co. has already gathered the leaking water and is preparing to replace the defective component.
The shutdown is expected to last about ten days, covering inspection and repairs before the reactor can be restarted. The reactor is notable for being the first in eastern Japan to run again after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Officials emphasized that the situation remains under control and poses no immediate risk to the public.
Why it matters
A temporary reactor shutdown highlights ongoing safety monitoring at Japan's only post-2011 nuclear restart.
In this story
