TEPCO May Just Dump Its Radioactive Water Into Pacific -

TEPCO May Just Dump Its Radioactive Water Into Pacific - 


Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501)’s discovery of leaks in water storage pits at the wrecked Fukushima atomic station raises the risk the utility will be forced to dump radioactive water in the Pacific Ocean.

Leaks were found in three of seven pits in the past week, reducing the options for moving contaminated water from basements of reactor buildings. Water in the basements is from the months after the earthquake and tsunami disabled the plant two years ago, when disaster teams used hose pipes and pumps to try and cool the reactors.

Tepco Faces Decision to Dump Radioactive Water in Pacific Ocean  Tokyo Electric Power Co. via Bloomberg
Naomi Hirose, president of Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco), center, and the company's employees, wearing protective suits and masks, inspect an underground water storage pit at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant in Fukushima, Japan in this handout photograph taken on April 10, 2013.

Naomi Hirose, president of Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco), center, and the company's employees, wearing protective suits and masks, inspect an underground water storage pit at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant in Fukushima, Japan in this handout photograph taken on April 10, 2013. Source: Tokyo Electric Power Co. via Bloomberg.

While the company has since built a makeshift sealed cooling system, underground water is breaching basement walls at a rate of about 400 tons a day and becoming contaminated, according to Tepco’s estimate. With Japan’s rainy season approaching, contaminated water levels are likely to increase at the plant 220 kilometers (137 miles) northeast of Tokyo. 

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-11/tepco-faces-decision-to-dump-radioactive-water-in-pacific-ocean.html