Contaminated Water at Fukushima Daiichi
The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant impacted by the Tōhoku tsunami in 2011 has a [link url=”http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/crippled-fukushima-reactors-are-still-a-danger-5-years-after-the-accident1/” title=”water contamination problem“]. Groundwater is running into cooling water in the basements of reactors, and nearly 150 tons a day is getting contaminated.
Radioactive water at #Fukushima is 760,000 tons and growing.
By @mariyamaguchi @AP https://t.co/TV0kRpO8wW #oceans pic.twitter.com/Oi7oRrIJPR— Ed Joyce (@EdJoyce) March 8, 2016
Two Part System Helps Prevent Some Contamination
Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) [link url=”http://www.forbes.com/sites/jboyd/2016/03/07/fukushima-nuclear-disaster-5-years-on-water-water-everywhere-part-i/2/#1087a01714b3″ title=”devised a two-part well system.“] to stem the flow of groundwater into these basements and prevent additional contamination.
In the two-part system, TEPCO attempts to divert groundwater away from the basements through wells that have been dug — either between the hills and the reactors or around the perimeter of the reactors — and then [link url=”http://newsonjapan.com/html/newsdesk/article/115568.php” title=”pumps it up, tests it, then releases it“] into the ocean.
Radioactive Water Pileup Problem Still Festering at #Fukushima: 1106 Tanks and Counting https://t.co/smdpajOete pic.twitter.com/Grf2tUQzqs
— EnviroNews (@EnviroNews) March 8, 2016
Growing Number of Storage Tanks
These efforts may not be enough, as pictures are a [link url=”http://newsonjapan.com/html/newsdesk/article/115568.php” title=”stark reminder of the growing number of tanks that are needed“] to contain the radioactive water — about one additional tank per week.
Each tank holds approximately 1,102 tons or 296,452 gallons of water, and many of them are leaking. The water, partly decontaminated before being placed in the tanks, still contains strontium, and tritium (radioactive hydrogen), the latter of which may cause cancer when ingested and is extremely difficult to remove.
Storage is Currently the Only Option
Still, leaking tanks caused spikes in strontium levels in the surrounding ocean, so in response, [link url=”http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/crippled-fukushima-reactors-are-still-a-danger-5-years-after-the-accident1/” title=”TEPCO is now attempting to remove everything but the tritium before storing“] the contaminated water.
Storing is the only option at this time, as current tritium levels [link url=”http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/publications/2011/9789241548151_ch09.pdf” title=”significantly exceed the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended amounts“] for drinking water. Clean-up is expected to continue beyond the initially projected 30 years, and some say the disaster will impact many future generations.
TEPCO is hoping to have the water contamination issue under control soon by utilizing a combination of systems, and are [link url=”http://newsonjapan.com/html/newsdesk/article/115568.php” title=”hopeful for a full resolution by 2020.“]
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