Trial operation of last ALPS line resumed

November 21, 2013

Trial run of last ALPS line at Fukushima resumed

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20131121_29.html

The operator of Japan's damaged nuclear plant has resumed trial operation of the last of 3 lines of a key water decontamination system.

Officials of Tokyo Electric Power Company restarted the 3rd line of the Advanced Liquid Processing System, or ALPS, at the Fukushima Daiichi plant on Thursday.

The system is designed to remove from contaminated water 62 kinds of radioactive substances, excluding tritium.

But its test operation was suspended in June following leaks of unprocessed water from a tank due to corrosion.

The utility restarted the lines one by one after working to prevent further corrosion.
The officials say test runs so far have shown that the system is failing to fully remove 4 types of radioactive substances, including cobalt and antimony.

They say they will work to fix the system and confirm the effects of anti-corrosion measures before making it fully operational next year. ALPS was originally to be in full operation this autumn.

Tokyo Electric plans to add more lines to the system so that it will be able to process all radioactive water in the plant's storage tanks by March 2015.