Fukushima plant may rid water into ocean
Source: Agencies |
December 9, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant is considering dumping water it treated for radiation contamination into the ocean as early as March, the firm said yesterday, prompting protests from fishing groups.
Tokyo Electric Power, the utility operating Fukushima's Daiichi plant, hit by a powerful tsunami in March that caused the world's worst nuclear accident in 25 years, said it was running out of space to store some of the water it treated at the plant, due to an inflow of groundwater.
"We would like to increase the number of tanks to accommodate the water but it will be difficult to do so indefinitely," Tepco spokesman Junichi Matsumoto told reporters.
He said the plant was likely to reach its storage capacity of about 155,000 tons around March.
Tepco plans to come up with possible ways to handle radioactive waste and present its proposals to the government's nuclear regulatory body for approval.
"The government should not, and must not, approve a plan allowing Tepco to dispose treated water in the ocean," said Kenji Sumita, an emeritus professor at Osaka University who specializes in nuclear engineering.
The admission is a setback for the utility, which appeared to be making progress in its cleanup after building a cooling system that no longer required pumping in vast amounts of water. It also built a system, drawing on French, United States and Japanese technology, that decontaminates the vast pool of tainted runoff to supply the cooling system with water.
Tepco said representatives of a nationwide federation of fishing cooperatives yesterday visited its Tokyo headquarters to protest.
The firm said it was still assessing the potential environmental impact of releasing the accumulating water.
Tokyo Electric Power, the utility operating Fukushima's Daiichi plant, hit by a powerful tsunami in March that caused the world's worst nuclear accident in 25 years, said it was running out of space to store some of the water it treated at the plant, due to an inflow of groundwater.
"We would like to increase the number of tanks to accommodate the water but it will be difficult to do so indefinitely," Tepco spokesman Junichi Matsumoto told reporters.
He said the plant was likely to reach its storage capacity of about 155,000 tons around March.
Tepco plans to come up with possible ways to handle radioactive waste and present its proposals to the government's nuclear regulatory body for approval.
"The government should not, and must not, approve a plan allowing Tepco to dispose treated water in the ocean," said Kenji Sumita, an emeritus professor at Osaka University who specializes in nuclear engineering.
The admission is a setback for the utility, which appeared to be making progress in its cleanup after building a cooling system that no longer required pumping in vast amounts of water. It also built a system, drawing on French, United States and Japanese technology, that decontaminates the vast pool of tainted runoff to supply the cooling system with water.
Tepco said representatives of a nationwide federation of fishing cooperatives yesterday visited its Tokyo headquarters to protest.
The firm said it was still assessing the potential environmental impact of releasing the accumulating water.
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