Japan:TEPCO to use additional facilities to store water
Laaska News June 2,2011
The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which is struggling to remove radioactive water, says it may use 2 additional buildings inside the compound as storage.
Tokyo Electric Power Company said on Wednesday that water levels are rising in underground tunnels extending from the No. 2 and 3 reactors and the basements of their turbine buildings. It said the levels rose for 24 hours through Wednesday evening.
The water in the tunnel of the No. 2 reactor is now 30.6 centimeters below ground level, and 25.2 centimeters at the No. 3 reactor. The levels are causing concerns that the water may overflow from the shaft in the event of heavy rain.
TEPCO hopes to use the two buildings, but with just one basement floor each they can hold only a limited amount of radioactive water.
The firm says it will start operating a filtering system in the middle of this month to speed up the purification of highly toxic water.
It adds that water levels have been falling in the basement of the No.1 reactor since Tuesday evening, possibly because of steam and evaporation. Radiation levels remain too high to determine the reason first hand.
The firm is gauging radioactivity in underground water around the No. 1 reactor and checking if radioactive water is leaking from the building.
NHK.
Laaska News.
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