Paint bulging 10cm on part of dilution facility
Start releasing 7,400 tons of contaminated water from tomorrow
Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which announced the second discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant starting on the 5th, revealed that after the first ocean discharge, it discovered swelling in the painted areas of some dilution equipment. However, TEPCO stated that there is no major problem and has entered the final preparation stage for the second discharge.
On the 4th, TEPCO held an online press conference for foreign media and reported that during inspection work conducted after completing the first discharge, swelling of about 10 cm was found in the paint on four upstream dilution tanks.
A TEPCO official emphasized, "There are no cracks in the paint, and the waterproof function of the tanks has been confirmed to be maintained," adding that there should be no issues with the second discharge. They further stressed that the cause was likely the inflow of rainwater.
Earlier, on September 28, TEPCO announced that after inspecting the equipment used for discharge and verifying the results of the first discharge, no issues requiring a review of the equipment or operational procedures were found, and that the second discharge would begin on October 5.
TEPCO has been preparing for the discharge since the day before. On the morning of the 3rd, they completed the dilution process of 1 ton of contaminated water with 1,200 tons of seawater. On the same afternoon, they analyzed seawater samples taken from 10 locations within a 3 km radius of the nuclear power plant and completed measuring the concentration of tritium, which is not removed by the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS).
If the contaminated water analysis results released that afternoon meet discharge standards and weather and sea conditions are favorable, the second discharge is planned to proceed as scheduled on the 5th. A total of 7,800 tons will be released over 17 days, with a daily discharge volume of 460 tons.
Previously, TEPCO discharged 7,788 tons of contaminated water diluted with seawater into the sea near the nuclear power plant from August 24 to September 11. The Japanese government and TEPCO plan to release a total of 31,200 tons of contaminated water in four discharges by March next year.
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