information about Fukushima published in English in Japanese media info publiée en anglais dans la presse japonaise
2 Mai 2014
May 2, 2014
TEPCO: Switch mix-up blamed for wastewater trouble
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20140502_22.html
The operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says workers' selection of the wrong switches was the likely cause of highly contaminated water being sent to the wrong facilities last month.
Tokyo Electric Power Company investigated the incident.
On April 13th, it was discovered that 4 pumps that were supposed to be offline had sent about 200 tons of tainted water into the basement of a facility known as the Incineration Workshop Building, instead of into temporary storage.
TEPCO's investigation found that contaminated water had also flowed into another facility. Officials say the pumping appears to have started on March 20th.
They say workers are suspected of having turned on water pumps instead of air conditioners.
Officials say the switches for the pumps and air conditioners were on the same control board. The switches were reportedly numbered, but were not clearly identified.
The officials ruled out any leak of the wastewater from the facilities because no change was seen in the levels of radioactive substances in nearby well water.
The utility says it has taken preventive steps by labeling the switches at the plant.
May 2, 2014 - Updated 04:40 UTC
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