“Advance Riken has obtained an order for its 5th PSA unit for use at the Tokyo Electric Power’s Fukushima No.1 Nuclear Power plant. The production capacity comes to 120 Nm3 an hour, with a 3N purity level, with the unit to be delivered around February.

Since the incident at the Fukushima No.1 Nuclear Power Plant, PSA has been brought in for the insertion of nitrogen into the containment vessels directly and for removal of the oxygen dissolved in the cooling water circulated. Even now several PSA units are in operation, with the company having already delivered 4 units for removal of dissolved oxygen in cooling water　(one with 11.5 Nm3 an hour, three with 60Nm3 an hour capacities).

The present unit is for direct insertion into the storage cylinder and to increase the existing PSA capacity. This is the first PSA unit since Tokyo Electric Power was placed under government authority. Bidding was held in the autumn only for the unit of outdoor type. Local maintenance should be done after delivery stipulated.

Advance Riken is producing an outdoor type PSA which was added to its standard lineup last summer. Along with greater (heat) radiation performance and better resistance to weather, the entire unit is constructed so as to be waterproof. The company already has sold basically similar units to the Fukushima No.1 Nuclear Power Plant. President Yasuhiko Tsuji stated, “Right now the fact that PSA units we installed are in operation at cooling water plants, might well be a decisive factor.”

The restarting of 52 nuclear power plants which bare now shut down has called forth public debate, and it is not clear right now where all this is going. However, if the plants are restarted, there is a very good possibility that nitrogen PSA will be deployed as safety measures. Advance Riken have this demand in its sight. Joining together with a partner company, it will strive to gather information.”