2nd Japanese reactor to be shut down

TOKYO, May 9 (UPI) -- A Japanese nuclear plant in central Japan will be shut as a precaution, Chubu Electric Power Co. said Monday following a series of board meetings.

The decision came as workers at the Fukushima Daiichi, damaged in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, prepared to install a new cooling system.

At an emergency board meeting in Nagoya, Chubu accepted Prime Minister Naoto Kan's call to suspend operation of the Hamaoka plant in Shizuoka prefecture, the Kyodo news agency reported.

Chubu began considering the request Saturday.

Industry Minister Banri Kaieda praised the decision and said the government will consider financial aid to offset the utility's losses.

Located in Omaezaki, on the Pacific coast southwest of Tokyo, the Hamaoka complex stands near a major fault line. It provides

about 12 percent of Chubu Electric's total electrical output, which powers major manufacturers like Toyota, Honda and Suzuki.

At Fukushima, Tokyo Electric Power Co. workers have been battling one of the world's worst nuclear crises since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami knocked out most of the reactors' cooling systems, needed to keep the nuclear fuel rods from melting down.

About a dozen workers have been working in shifts inside the No. 1 reactor building since Thursday to clear the way for installing a new cooling system. The initial step involved installing ventilation systems to filter out radioactive substances.

Monday's work began after the workers Sunday opened the doors linking the reactor building to its adjacent turbine building. The utility promised the resulting release of radioactive materials into the air would not further increase radiation at the plant site.

Nine workers went inside the reactor building early Monday and took radiation levels and other readings for about 30 minutes, Kyodo said, quoting the utility. The results were not immediately announced.

Workers have been injecting massive quantities of water from outside to keep the reactors cool, resulting in radioactive water collecting in the basements of these reactors.

The company last week was quoted as saying it would take several days to activate the new cooling system to bring the reactor to a stable condition or a "cool shutdown" stage. The new system also would allow the utility to circulate the coolant water. The utility plans to install similar new cooling systems at the Nos. 2 and 3 reactors.