Tokyo Electric Power Co. unveiled a plan on Sept. 22 to treat low-contamination water and sprinkle the treated water on the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant compound.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. unveiled a plan on Sept. 22 to treat low-contamination water and sprinkle the treated water on the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant compound.
Low-contamination water has accumulated in the basement of the turbine building of the No. 6 reactor building, TEPCO said.
The operator of the nuclear plant said it plans to treat the contaminated water to reduce the density of radioactive materials to the legally permitted level. It will seek understanding from nearby municipalities.
The contaminated water is believed to be a large amount of seawater and groundwater that flowed into the turbine building containing radioactivity that leaked to the atmosphere due to the explosions. The amount of water has been increasing, TEPCO said.
TEPCO has moved about 10,000 tons of low-contamination water to temporary storage tanks and about 7,000 tons to the "Mega-float" tank.
While the contamination level is as low as the government standard of 0.01 becquerel per milliliter, TEPCO said it will further remove radioactive substances.
"Even if it soaks into the ground and flows into the sea, there won't be any effect to the surrounding environment," a TEPCO official said.
The industry ministry's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency requested that the company thoroughly remove radioactive materials, adding it will confirm if the levels have been lowered.
TEPCO plans to use the treated water for fire prevention for the piled wood that had been cut down to set up temporary storage tanks, or for sprinkling to suppress airborne dust on the road. The company did not specify when and how much such water will be sprinkled.
TEPCO planned to discharge the same level low-contamination water from the No. 2 nuclear power plant in June, but it refrained from doing so due to opposition from the Fisheries Agency and local municipalities.
Toshitsuna Watanabe, mayor of Okuma town, which hosts the No. 1 to No. 4 reactors, said, "I hope TEPCO will do decontamination work thoroughly before they sprinkle contaminated water and try to minimize the impact on the environment."