Radioactive Water to Get Dumped Into Pacific

The 11.5K tons have only low-level radiation
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 4, 2011 8:36 AM CDT
Fukushima Dai-ichi: Tokyo Electric Power Company Will Release 11.5K Tons of Low-Level Radioactive Water Into Pacific Ocean
The maintenance pit of Unit 2 reactor, where highly radioactive water spilled into the sea through a crack, is photographed after pouring the concrete into it to keep from further leak.   (AP Photo/Tokyo Electric Power Co.)

In an effort to speed up the draining of its Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said today that it will release 11,500 tons of low-level radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean. Ten thousand tons of water flooded a radioactive waste processing facility after last month's earthquake and tsunami; once drained, Tepco will use the facility to store the highly radioactive water currently in the basement near the No. 2 reactor. Japan's nuclear watchdog endorsed the plan and called it "inevitable," the Wall Street Journal reports. (More Tepco stories.)

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