Overview
- TEPCO confirmed that during a Jan. 17 control-rod pull test at Unit 6, an alarm designed to prevent unintended rod withdrawal did not sound.
- The company has deferred the Jan. 20 restart to complete operational verifications, with no revised timetable announced.
- Investigations identified a misconfiguration in the alarm’s settings, which TEPCO corrected on Jan. 18 at 8:16 p.m., though broader checks are still underway.
- Engineers are confirming alarm functionality across all 205 control rods following the utility’s Dec. 24 pre-use filing with the Nuclear Regulation Authority.
- If restarted, Unit 6 would mark TEPCO’s first reactor return to operation since the 2011 Fukushima accident and become Japan’s 15th operating reactor.