Fukushima radiation decontamination system not working

Fukushima decontamination system down

 March 26, 2014 The operator of Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant says it has shut down a key decontamination system used to clean radiation-tainted water, just hours after it came back online.

Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) switched off its Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) after workers discovered leaks ‘seeping’ from a tank late on Monday.

About eight litres of tainted water is believed to have leaked out, a company spokesman said. He says there are no immediate safety risk as the water has been recovered.

The suspension came just six hours after the embattled operator switched back on two of three lines in the system, which cleans radiation-tainted water used to cool the reactors damaged by Japan’s devastating 2011 quake-tsunami disaster.

The whole system was shut down last Wednesday after TEPCO discovered a defect. The firm has repeatedly switched the system off over a series of glitches since trial operations began a year ago.

TEPCO is struggling to handle a huge – and growing – volume of contaminated water at Fukushima……

There are about 436,000 cubic metres of contaminated water stored at the site in about 1,200 purpose-built tanks……http://www.skynews.com.au/world/article.aspx?id=961162

March 26, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized