Bypass has no impact

August 28, 2014

TEPCO bypass operation failing to have an impact

Aug. 29, 2014 - Updated 00:22 UTC+2

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html

An operation to curb the accumulation of radioactive water at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is not making a significant impact.

Tokyo Electric Power Company is pumping up groundwater at the plant to keep it from entering contaminated reactor buildings.

TEPCO officials say contaminated water levels in the buildings have seen little change after the launch of the so-called underground bypass operation in May.

The officials say as of August 17th, water levels in 3 wells around the buildings were down about 10 centimeters from late last month. They were down 20 to 30 centimeters compared to before the measure was implemented.

The officials believe that in order to reduce the roughly 400 tons of water flowing daily into the buildings by 100 tons, they would need to lower the wells' water levels by amounts in a range from tens of centimeters to one meter.

The officials say the limited impact is due to the slow movement of groundwater and unclear effects of rain on contaminated water levels. They expect the operation will take several more months to show tangible effects.