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Japan Develops Decontamination Device For Fukushima Plant

302 days ago

(RTTNews) - A new decontamination device that can remove a large variety of radioactive substances, including strontium, has been developed for the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan.

The decontamination tool now in use at the plant can only remove radioactive cesium.

More than 170,000 tons of treated water, still contaminated with other radioactive substances, is being stored in tanks in the plant's premises.

The new device unveiled in Yokohama near Tokyo on Tuesday can lower contamination to acceptable levels for 62 types of radioactive materials, such as strontium and cobalt. This is done by putting the water in a stainless steel tank containing a resin that absorbs radioactive materials, Japanese media reported.

The new mechanism will be tested at the Fukushima plant in early September. Filtered wastewater will temporarily be stored in its compound, but it has not been decided where it will go from there.

The Fukushima nuke power plant owned by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) was knocked out in the quake-triggered tsunami of March 2011 leaking radiation that forced evacuation of the population from a 30-kilometer radius of the plant.

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