Tokyo Electric Power Co. said it has begun trial runs of a decontamination channel of a newly installed ALPS system to process radioactive water at the damaged Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said it has begun trial runs of a decontamination channel of a newly installed ALPS system to process radioactive water at the damaged Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Three channels of the Advanced Liquid Processing System equipment have been in operation since March 2013, but have frequently been suspended because of accidents.
TEPCO said it will start trial runs of two additional channels of the new ALPS equipment by early October. When all six channels become operative, the ALPS system can decontaminate up to 1,500 tons of contaminated water per day, twice as much as the current capacity.
There are 365,000 tons of highly-contaminated water in storage tanks at the plant as of Sept. 16, posing a risk of accidental leaks.
In addition to the two ALPS systems, an upgraded model whose development was financed by the central government is scheduled to begin operations as early as October. The plant's three ALPS systems will handle up to 2,000 tons of contaminated water a day, TEPCO officials said.
The government and TEPCO are implementing measures to reduce the risk of accidental leaks of contaminated water at the plant. So far, the existing trouble-prone ALPS equipment has processed 138,000 tons of contaminated water.