Sixty thousand tons of radioactive water accumulated at Fukushima

Some 60,000 tons of water with a very high level of radiation have been accumulated in three damaged reactors of the Fukushima-1 NPP, a representative of the Japanese Agency for Atomic and Industrial Security reported on Tuesday, reports www.megafishnet.com with reference to ITAR-TASS.

The water, whose radiation level on the surface exceeds 1,000 millisieverts per hour, does not permit specialists to resume the badly needed work for the stoppage of more leakage and the cooling of overheated first, second and third power units. In order to create conditions for those operations, the Tokyo Energy Company (TEC), which is the operator of the Fukushima-1 NPP, began with the permission of the authorities to discharge into the ocean 11,500 tons of water with a low radiation level from the technical reservoir on the territory of the NPP, in order to pump into it the water with an extremely dangerous radiation level, which was accumulated in the buildings of the first, second and third reactors. According to the information of TEC, the given amount of water includes 1,500 tons of subsoil water from the area of the stopped fifth and sixth reactors.

According to the Agency, some 30,000 tons of water with a high radiation level could be pumped into the technical reservoir, which is being cleared now, and another 3,000 tons could be pumped into a steam condensator of the second reactor. The remaining 30,000 tons are planned to be discharged into provisional tanks, which are to be deployed on the territory of the NPP, as well as into the holds of a floating reservoir Mega Float. The vessel is staying in one of the ports of the Shizuoka Prefecture. It will be towed to the area of the NPP within a few days.

There should be no more discharging into the ocean of radioactive water from the area of Fukushima-1 NPP, which was started by a NPP operator on Monday, Japanese Minister of Economy, Industry and Trade Banri Kaieda said here on Tuesday. "Previously we never planned to do anything like that (the discharging of water into the ocean). We hope it is the last operation of that sort," he added. Yukio Edano, Chief Cabinet Secretary, said, in his turn, that the discharge into the ocean of water with a low radiation level "was needed for preventing even greater damage." Since the discharge of water into the ocean is going on, the Japanese Fisheries Agency "gave instructions to tighten control over the sea food," said Minister of Agriculture, Fishing and Forestry Michihiko Kano.