TEPCO Says Attempt to Curb Accumulation of Radioactive Water at Fukushima Ineffective

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RIA Novosti, PUBLISHED 05.09.2014

Attempts by the Tokyo Electric Power Cooperation (TEPCO) to curb the accumulation of radioactive water at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant have proven ineffective, Japanese national broadcaster NHK said Friday, citing TEPCO officials.

“The levels of contaminated water inside the buildings have changed little,” TEPCO officials were quoted by NHK World television channel as saying, adding that it would take several more months before results can be seen.

According to TEPCO, as of August 17, water levels in the wells were down 10 centimeters (4 inches) from the last month and 20 to 30 centimeters down in comparison with the beginning of the bypass operation in May.

The volume of radioactive water at plants is increasing by 400 tons every day. To reduce the inflow by 100 tons, the water levels in the wells need to be lowered by up to 1 meter.

TEPCO’s groundwater bypass plan has been designed to reduce the amount of water flowing into the reactor and mixing with radioactive water accumulated there “by altering the flow of groundwater and lowering the water level of groundwater, which is to be achieved through pumping up groundwater at the mountain side before it flows into the reactor buildings,” a TEPCO statement released in May said.

The meltdown of reactors at Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in March 2011 was the second-largest nuclear disaster in history after the Chernobyl catastrophe. The problem of accumulating radioactive water at the plant remains unsolved.

Topics: NPP Fukushima Daiichi

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