ID :
192121
Thu, 06/30/2011 - 18:08
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/192121
The shortlink copeid
TEPCO starts system to cool another spent fuel pool at nuclear plant
TOKYO (Kyodo) - Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Thursday that it had activated a water circulation system to stably cool another spent nuclear fuel pool at the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi atomic power plant, while also starting to transfer relatively low-level radioactive water at the plant to an artificial floating island called a megafloat.
The plant operator is hoping to efficiently cool the spent fuel pool of the No. 3 unit, having started a similar cooling system for the No. 2 unit's pool.
The utility known as TEPCO is trying to contain the world's worst nuclear crisis since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, in line with a road map that aims to stabilize by January the plant's reactors and spent fuel pools, which lost their key cooling functions in the wake of the massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
TEPCO is seeking to operate similar systems for the Nos. 1 and 4 units by July. The remaining Nos. 5 and 6 units at the six-reactor Fukushima plant achieved a stable condition called cold shutdown in the early days of the crisis.
As for the steel megafloat, which is berthed at a quay near the plant, about 8,000 tons of low-level radioactive water will be transferred over the next three or four months. The government's nuclear safety agency said TEPCO has not yet decided what to do with the water after it is transferred, but it will not be directly dumped into the sea.
The water comes from the Nos. 5 and 6 reactor turbine buildings and a large part of it is believed to be seawater left inside the facilities after large tsunami waves hit the plant on the Pacific Coast in Fukushima Prefecture, as well as groundwater.
Dealing with the massive amount of water contaminated with various degrees of radioactive substances is a key part of the process to contain the ongoing nuclear crisis.
The megafloat is 136 meters long, 46 meters wide and 3 meters high, and was originally used in the city of Shizuoka as a platform for sea fishing. It can store around 10,000 tons of water.
TEPCO has been transferring the low-level radioactive water into makeshift storage tanks and has decided to use the megafloat because the tanks are becoming full.
Meanwhile, to reduce highly radioactive water produced in the process of cooling the crippled reactors at the plant, TEPCO is operating devices to remove radioactive substances from the polluted water and a system to recycle the decontaminated water as a coolant for the reactors.
But operation of the devices and the water circulation system, using technologies from various companies in and outside Japan, has been repeatedly suspended due to problems such as water leaks.
TEPCO spokesman Junichi Matsumoto told a press conference in the afternoon, ''We are operating something we made for the first time, so some initial problems cannot be helped. It is important to accumulate experience.''
To reinforce support for workers involved in restoration efforts, the government and TEPCO announced the same day that a doctor who specializes in emergency treatment for radiation exposure will be stationed at the Fukushima plant from Friday.
The plant operator is hoping to efficiently cool the spent fuel pool of the No. 3 unit, having started a similar cooling system for the No. 2 unit's pool.
The utility known as TEPCO is trying to contain the world's worst nuclear crisis since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, in line with a road map that aims to stabilize by January the plant's reactors and spent fuel pools, which lost their key cooling functions in the wake of the massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
TEPCO is seeking to operate similar systems for the Nos. 1 and 4 units by July. The remaining Nos. 5 and 6 units at the six-reactor Fukushima plant achieved a stable condition called cold shutdown in the early days of the crisis.
As for the steel megafloat, which is berthed at a quay near the plant, about 8,000 tons of low-level radioactive water will be transferred over the next three or four months. The government's nuclear safety agency said TEPCO has not yet decided what to do with the water after it is transferred, but it will not be directly dumped into the sea.
The water comes from the Nos. 5 and 6 reactor turbine buildings and a large part of it is believed to be seawater left inside the facilities after large tsunami waves hit the plant on the Pacific Coast in Fukushima Prefecture, as well as groundwater.
Dealing with the massive amount of water contaminated with various degrees of radioactive substances is a key part of the process to contain the ongoing nuclear crisis.
The megafloat is 136 meters long, 46 meters wide and 3 meters high, and was originally used in the city of Shizuoka as a platform for sea fishing. It can store around 10,000 tons of water.
TEPCO has been transferring the low-level radioactive water into makeshift storage tanks and has decided to use the megafloat because the tanks are becoming full.
Meanwhile, to reduce highly radioactive water produced in the process of cooling the crippled reactors at the plant, TEPCO is operating devices to remove radioactive substances from the polluted water and a system to recycle the decontaminated water as a coolant for the reactors.
But operation of the devices and the water circulation system, using technologies from various companies in and outside Japan, has been repeatedly suspended due to problems such as water leaks.
TEPCO spokesman Junichi Matsumoto told a press conference in the afternoon, ''We are operating something we made for the first time, so some initial problems cannot be helped. It is important to accumulate experience.''
To reinforce support for workers involved in restoration efforts, the government and TEPCO announced the same day that a doctor who specializes in emergency treatment for radiation exposure will be stationed at the Fukushima plant from Friday.
