Removing contaminated soil

 August 22, 2013

TEPCO to remove radiation-soaked soil

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20130823_04.html

The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station on Friday will start removing soil soaked with radioactive water from the plant.

TEPCO workers found on Monday that one of the storage tanks near the Number 4 reactor has leaked more than 300 tons of highly radioactive wastewater. Some of the water may have flowed into the sea through a drainage system.

Much of the water that has leaked is believed to have soaked into soil near the tank as there is little water left on the ground and little contamination in the drainage system.

TEPCO workers plan to collect the soil on Friday to prevent the contamination from spreading further underground.
The workers will dig up about 50 centimeters of soil with heavy equipment and then measure radiation levels. If the levels are high, the workers will dig deeper to remove the soil until the levels are equal to those in untainted spots.

However, it is not known where and how much escaped water has penetrated the ground. In addition, some places have a network of cables underground.

TEPCO says its workers will first collect earth in places where no equipment is buried. But it is not clear how much soil they can remove.