nuclear-news

11,500 metric tonnes of radioactive water to be dumped into the sea

Japan to dump 11,500 metric tonnes of radioactive water (Reuters) 5 April 11, – Japan needs to discharge a total of 11,500 metric tons of low-contaminated water into the ocean from a stricken nuclear power plant, a Japanese official said on Monday.Koichiro Nakamura, a deputy director general of Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), said the measure was needed to “avoid a more serious risk,” without elaborating.

He spoke at a news conference after he and other Japanese officials briefed member states of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna about the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) was forced on Monday to release low-level radioactive seawater that had been used to cool overheated fuel rods after it ran out of storage capacity for more highly contaminated water.

TEPCO said it would release more than 10,000 tonnes of water about 100 times more radioactive than legal limits in order to free storage capacity for more highly contaminated water.Nakamura, citing information from the company, said the 10,000 tonnes needed to be dumped into the ocean to make storage space for higher-radioactive water now in reactor unit 2.Another 1,500 tonnes was accumulated ground water in a drain pit of units 5 and 6.”The total amount of water we need to discharge is 11,500 tonnes,” he said, speaking through an interpreter…..
Japan to dump 11,500 metric tons of radioactive water | Reuters

April 5, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | - Fukushima 2011