Tokyo Electric Power Company continues to struggle to prevent possible leaks of highly-radioactive water that is accumulating at its troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
TEPCO plans to move an additional 2,700 tons of highly-contaminated water from the reactor buildings to an adjacent waste processing facility.
The move is an attempt to postpone by 5 days water overflowing from a tunnel outside Reactor 2. This could occur on June 20th if a new water-decontaminating system is not installed and in operation by next Wednesday.
The utility says it has already obtained the consent of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency for the plan.
The Agency says the measure is appropriate since there is no risk of the water leaking outside the waste facility.
More than 105,000 tons of highly radioactive water is believed to have accumulated in the reactor and turbine buildings.
The company says the amount is increasing by more than 500 tons daily as fresh water continues to be injected into the reactors in an attempt to lower their temperatures.
The utility says 14,200 tons of contaminated water will be stored 1.4 meters deep in the basement of the facility. After being decontaminated, the operator plans to use the water in the reactors as a coolant.
The company says it is determined to begin operating the water-decontaminating system by June 25th at the latest.
2011年6月9日木曜日
2011年5月31日火曜日
Rain increases radioactive water at nuke plant
Heavy rain has increased the volume of highly radioactive water building up inside the disaster-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
Contaminated water already floods the basements of the turbine and reactor buildings, partly due to water injections to cool down the reactor cores.
Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, now says water levels rose faster on Monday as rain poured inside the badly damaged buildings.
In the basement of the No.1 reactor building, radioactive water rose by 37.6 centimeters during the 24 hours through Tuesday morning.
At the No.2 reactor, the level of water rose by 8.6 centimeters in an underground tunnel extending from the building.
The water in the tunnel's shaft is now only about 39 centimeters below ground level. The utility is speeding up work to seal the opening.
TEPCO is planning to decontaminate and recycle the radioactive water as coolant for the reactors. But the system won't be in place until July at the earliest.
In the meantime, the utility is studying steps to prevent rainwater from seeping in. It will also consider new storage sites to which the contaminated water can be quickly transferred as the rainy season approaches.
Contaminated water already floods the basements of the turbine and reactor buildings, partly due to water injections to cool down the reactor cores.
Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, now says water levels rose faster on Monday as rain poured inside the badly damaged buildings.
In the basement of the No.1 reactor building, radioactive water rose by 37.6 centimeters during the 24 hours through Tuesday morning.
At the No.2 reactor, the level of water rose by 8.6 centimeters in an underground tunnel extending from the building.
The water in the tunnel's shaft is now only about 39 centimeters below ground level. The utility is speeding up work to seal the opening.
TEPCO is planning to decontaminate and recycle the radioactive water as coolant for the reactors. But the system won't be in place until July at the earliest.
In the meantime, the utility is studying steps to prevent rainwater from seeping in. It will also consider new storage sites to which the contaminated water can be quickly transferred as the rainy season approaches.
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