Tokyo Electric Power Co. said a system that decontaminates radioactive water and recycles it to cool reactors is now working properly, a huge step in bringing the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant under control.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said a system that decontaminates radioactive water and recycles it to cool reactors is now working properly, a huge step in bringing the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant under control.
If the system continues to function well, it will reduce the risk of highly radioactive water accumulating at the plant, a problem that has seriously hampered work to stabilize the reactors, TEPCO said.
The system is being used to cool four problem reactors at the site, the company said.
TEPCO started using the circulating-injection system on June 27, but a number of leaks and other problems surfaced.
The plant operator was forced to use additional fresh water supplied from tanks filled at reservoirs to cool the fuel.
TEPCO shifted completely to the circulating-injection system by the evening of July 2, after it set up a tank that will recycle the decontaminated water, the company said.