Japan nuclear reactor halted over pressure drop

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Here are Michael Ruppert's comments on the following article:

Read the very last paragraph. Japan's electrical grid is collapsing. With it goes what remains of Japan's economy and quite possibly its civilization. For without electricity there can be no economic activity in the industrialized world. On the World News Desk we are bringing you stories of civil unrest and looting in Japan right now. What's happening is anything but pretty and the once cohesive civilization is shedding its tight bonds in places. As much as anything I have seen this convinces me that Japan is dying right now. As I have said consistently since I issued my Emergency Action Alert in April... It all comes unravelled in July or early August. Here we are... and so it is. The Old Paradigm may have more resilience than I can see. But I am certain that when this month is over more than half the people in the world will know that Collapse is here. 
MCR

TOKYO — A Japanese power firm said it would halt operations at a nuclear reactor because of a technical failure, placing further strain on the country's power supply.

Kansai Electric Power Co. said it would manually shut down reactor No. 1 at its Ooi plant in central Japan because of a temporary pressure drop in a standby tank.

The tank contains boric acid solution that can be pumped in to slow nuclear fission in case of emergency.

Pressure in the tank had already returned to the correct level, but the company decided to shut down the reactor "to give the top priority to safety and find out the cause," a company spokesman said on Saturday.

The company did not yet know when the reactor would resume operations, but there had been no radiation leak, he said.

The stalled reactor is one of four at the Ooi plant and has a capacity of 1.18 million kilowatts. It provides four percent of the power generated by the company, according to Jiji Press news agency.

Japan is already sweltering in the summer heat as it seeks to save electricity and avoid blackouts, with many nuclear reactors remaining shut after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Public sentiment flared up against nuclear power after the tsunami tore into the Fukushima Daiichi plant, triggering reactor meltdowns, radiation leaks and the evacuation of tens of thousands of people.

Utilities not directly affected by the twin disasters have held back from restarting reactors that were under maintenance at the time or entered regular check-ups after the disaster.

As a result only 19 of Japan's 54 reactors are now operating. The Ooi shutdown -- to be completed Saturday evening -- will bring the number to 18, with further reactors soon due to shut down for regular checks.