An uncollected rubber pad halted operations of a radioactive-water purifier that is considered a key piece of equipment in dealing with the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, the plant’s operator said.
An uncollected rubber pad halted operations of a radioactive-water purifier that is considered a key piece of equipment in dealing with the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, the plant’s operator said. The ALPS multi-nuclide removal equipment stopped running slightly over 22 hours after it resumed a trial run at the crippled nuclear plant in the early hours of Sept. 27. Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Sept. 29 that two rubber pads, each 400 square centimeters, had been used to fix the feet of a ladder temporarily installed inside a treatment tank. Camera inspections found that one of the square rubber pads had come off the bottom of the tank and ended up blocking an outlet for discharging mud, forcing a shutdown of ALPS, TEPCO officials said. Workers should have collected the rubber pads after use, the officials added. Work at the nuclear plant has been hampered by continuing leaks of radioactive water and the accumulation of contaminated water at the site. The ALPS equipment, which can remove 62 radioactive substances from contaminated water, is part of plans to reduce the volume of polluted water at the site. TEPCO officials said inspections found that no other rubber pads had been displaced in other tanks. ALPS resumed treating radioactive water on Sept. 30.