Key decontamination equipment at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant has malfunctioned again, resulting in radioactive water being stored in tanks meant for treated water, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said March 18.
Key decontamination equipment at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant has malfunctioned again, resulting in radioactive water being stored in tanks meant for treated water, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said March 18.
The utility said the problem occurred in the B unit of the multi-nuclide removal equipment called ALPS (advanced liquid processing system).
ALPS can remove 62 kinds of radioactive substances, including strontium, from contaminated water. It is seen as a crucial tool in reducing the risk of radiation exposure in the event of a leak and dealing with the huge problem of contaminated water accumulating at the crippled nuclear plant.
TEPCO said there were no irregularities on March 14. But on March 17, the utility found that water supposedly treated at the B unit contained about 10 million becquerels of radioactive substances per liter.
The company concluded that the B unit had malfunctioned and halted operations of all three ALPS units since water treated at each unit is mixed together and diverted to storage tanks.
The ALPS system has been plagued by problems since its trial operations in March last year. Contaminated water has leaked inside the equipment. And in the past month alone, TEPCO had to twice suspend operations of ALPS units due to glitches in the electric system.