Radiation levels at plant perimeter need reduction

January 31, 2014

TEPCO to lower radiation levels at plant perimeter

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20140201_01.html 

Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority has urged the operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant to lower radiation levels at the plant's perimeter.

Radiation levels measured at some locations were more than 8 millisieverts on an annual basis. The reading is 8 times the limit of 1 millisieverts per year set by the authority.

The levels rose as the number of storage tanks for radioactive water at the plant increased and additional ones were placed near the perimeter.

In a meeting with officials from Tokyo Electric Power Company on Friday, regulators demanded that radiation levels be lower than the limit by March 2016.

Regulators said lowering the radiation level will likely diminish effects on the environment beyond the perimeter. They added that it will also reduce the radiation dose plant workers are exposed to.

TEPCO officials said that because nearly 90 percent of the radiation at the edge of the plant comes from the storage tanks, the utility plans to decontaminate the waste stored in the tanks.

But experts have questioned whether the proposal can be implemented as planned. TEPCO officials are expected to devise a plan to achieve the target and announce it at the next meeting.

Experts say that in addition to decontaminating the tank water, TEPCO needs to move contaminated debris and reduce the amount of radioactive substances contained in waste water.