Fishermen unconvinced

May 13, 2013

TEPCO, fishermen divided over groundwater release

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20130513_28.html

The operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has failed to persuade local fishermen on a plan to release groundwater into the sea before it seeps into the reactor buildings.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, on Monday briefed the fishermen on its plan to dig 12 wells in the plant compound. Groundwater would be pumped from the wells and out to the sea nearby.

TEPCO says contaminated water from the crippled reactors has increased 400 tons per day and that to reduce this, it needs to lessen the amount of groundwater seeping into the reactor buildings.

The utility says the plan will cut the daily volume of contaminated water by 100 tons. It also says groundwater radiation levels are now as low as those in nearby rivers.

But the fishermen say some of their colleagues are worried because they can't know the difference between groundwater and contaminated water.

TEPCO says it will revisit the plan next month or a later time.