Water treatment system not working as expected
Jun. 23, 2011
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Wednesday that part of a newly installed radioactive water treatment system at its crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is operating only at 10 percent of its expected decontamination capacity.
The utility said that although the system as a whole is performing above the minimum targeted decontamination level, it is investigating the cause of the insufficiency of a cesium-absorbing device developed by Kurion Inc. of the United States.
During recent trial operations, the installation of the device reduced the level of cesium-134 and cesium-137 in toxic water to one hundredth, although a reduction to one thousandth of the level had been anticipated.
The contaminated water is a side effect of the current emergency step of injecting coolant water from outside, as reactors' cooling functions were lost after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Smooth operation of the system, which is designed to remove highly radioactive materials from a massive amount of water accumulating at the station, is considered essential to containing the three-month-old nuclear crisis, as the utility plans to eventually recycle the water to cool the plant's damaged reactors.
Highlighting the difficulty in containing the water problem, the utility, known as TEPCO, said that possibly toxic water has been found again in the basement of the No. 2 reactor building.
The 6.1 meter-deep water in the basement may be contaminated due to the effects of damage to the reactor as radiation doses of 430 millisieverts per hour have been found in the stairs of the building, a TEPCO official said.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on June 22, 2011)
The utility said that although the system as a whole is performing above the minimum targeted decontamination level, it is investigating the cause of the insufficiency of a cesium-absorbing device developed by Kurion Inc. of the United States.
During recent trial operations, the installation of the device reduced the level of cesium-134 and cesium-137 in toxic water to one hundredth, although a reduction to one thousandth of the level had been anticipated.
The contaminated water is a side effect of the current emergency step of injecting coolant water from outside, as reactors' cooling functions were lost after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Smooth operation of the system, which is designed to remove highly radioactive materials from a massive amount of water accumulating at the station, is considered essential to containing the three-month-old nuclear crisis, as the utility plans to eventually recycle the water to cool the plant's damaged reactors.
Highlighting the difficulty in containing the water problem, the utility, known as TEPCO, said that possibly toxic water has been found again in the basement of the No. 2 reactor building.
The 6.1 meter-deep water in the basement may be contaminated due to the effects of damage to the reactor as radiation doses of 430 millisieverts per hour have been found in the stairs of the building, a TEPCO official said.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on June 22, 2011)
