The water treatment plant was started on Friday, but was stopped after 5 hours because a component reached its limit for radioactive contamination much faster than expected. The contaminated water is to undergo three processes, the first separates the oil and water, the second reduces the radiation by absorbing the cesium, and the third removes the salt and other impurities. The processed water will be stored and eventually used to cool the reactors. The oil in the water is from the machinery which is in the basements of the flooded buildings. The salt is from the seawater which was injected into the reactor for several days following the earthquake until a supply of fresh water could be obtained. The cesium and other radioactive materials are from the damaged fuel and appeared to be at concentrations higher than TEPCO anticipated. While it is expected that the water treatment plant will concentrate radioactive materials, they need to monitor the radiation level in order to avoid the problem of the ‘filter’ becoming too radioactive to be handled and disposed of properly.
The Unit 2 reactor building doors were opened to reduce the humidity in the building. Efforts to cool the spent fuel pool apparently did not remedy the situation previously reported May 23. The humidity was at 99%. They want to reduce it to below 70% to create better working conditions.
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