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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Radiation spike halts Fukushima clean-up |
| 2011-06-19 |
| [Al Jazeera] The operator of Japan's stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant has suspended an operation to clean up radioactive water only hours after it had begun as radiation levels rose faster than expected. The plan had got under way on Friday after being delayed by a series of glitches. "The level of radiation at a machine to absorb caesium has risen faster than our initial projections," a front man for Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), said on Saturday. "At the moment, we haven't specified the reason so we can't say when we can resume the operation. But I'd say it's not something that would take weeks." The official said teams working at the plant believed the radiation rise could be linked to sludge flowing into the machinery intended to absorb ceasium. Another cause could be pipes surrounding it. Disposal problems A resumption, the official said, was critical to deal with the highly radioactive water is stored there. "Unless we can resume the operation within a week, we will have problems in disposing of the contaminated water," the official said. "But if this is caused by the reasons we are thinking, we can resume the operation within a week." The official said TEPCO foresaw no delay in its overall plan to bring the Fukushima Daiichi plant fully under control by the end of the year. The plan calls for a shutdown of its three unstable reactors by January 2012. Officials had said earlier this week thon the lam and growing pools of radioactive water at the Fukushima Daiichi plant were in danger of spilling into the sea within a week unless action was taken quickly. Al Jizz's Marga Ortigas, reporting from Tokyo, said that massive amounts of water were pumped in to cool three reactors at the plant. "The problem is that there is too much water in the plant already," Ortigas said. "The last thing they want to do right now is get more contaminated water into the sea." Around 110,000 tonnes of highly radioactive water is stored at the plant. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 But iff it had a choice, Nippon doesn't want the waste water to be stored anywhere in Japan which is why it + US are repor in negotiations to dev a modern Nucwaste Recycling-Storage plex in Mongolia. Which Beijing is heavily suspicious of. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2011-06-19 23:52 |
| #1 Man I hit the translate button and got nothing. "At the moment, we haven't specified the reason so we can't say when we can resume the operation. But I'd say it's not something that would take weeks." Sweet Jesus Ron Ziegler has reincarnationed as a TEPCO spokesperson. |
| Posted by: Zombie Hillary Lover 2011-06-19 06:14 |