nuclear-news

Thousands of tons of radioactive water to be stored somehow at Fukushima

Facility for tainted water almost full,  New storage sites needed at Fukushima No. 1 Japan Times, May 24, 2011 Kyodo A nuclear waste disposal facility being used to store radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 power plant will soon be full, Tokyo Electric Power Co. officials said Monday. The operator, known as Tepco, plans to suspend the extraction operation until mid-June once the facility becomes filled and until a new water treatment facility begins operating.

A temporary storage tank is being prepared but will not be ready until around early July, the officials said.

Meanwhile, the amount of contaminated water is expected to rise as the crippled reactors continue to leak and the rainy season sets in, possibly posing another challenge to stabilization work at the plant…….

The waste disposal facility consists of four buildings. Tepco plans to use two that have been altered to better secure the highly contaminated water, with about 10,000 tons to be transferred from a tunnel near the No. 2 reactor.

As of Monday morning, roughly 8,700 tons had been diverted from the tunnel to the facility at a rate of 12 tons per hour, leaving space for about 1,300 tons of water, which will take about five more days to fill.

Tepco plans to extract 4,000 tons of tainted water from the No. 3 reactor’s turbine building as well. As of Monday morning, 2,700 tons had already been transferred after being diverted at 20 tons per hour, leaving space for about 1,300 tons, which will take about three days to fill.

Meanwhile, over 80,000 tons of water remains in or around reactors 1 to 4. Tepco plans to recycle it so it can be used to cool the cores of units 1 to 3.

Of the six reactors at the plant, units 1 to 3 still have fuel and must be stabilized……..The core of the No. 1 reactor melted within 16 hours of the quake, but high radiation levels inside on March 11 hinted the shaking damaged key facilities…http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110524a1.html

May 24, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | - Fukushima 2011