Tokyo Electric Power Co. put off its plan to start using treated water Saturday to cool reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, after suspending a key water treatment system less than five hours after full operation began.
Photo: Reuters / Toru Hanai
News photographers are seen through the logo of Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) after a news conference at the company head office in Tokyo May 20, 2011.
The treatment system, which began full operation at 8 p.m. Friday, was halted at 12:54 a.m. Saturday when the radiation level for a component to absorb cesium reached its limit of 4 millisieverts per hour and required replacement earlier than expected.
The utility was initially planning to replace the cesium absorber once a month.
The system is seen as a key step to containing the 3-month-old crisis. It is designed to clean highly radioactive water accumulating at the plant and preventing restoration work.
"It is still uncertain when we can restart the water treatment system . . . but we will probably be able to solve the problem within a week, by the time the facility where the polluted water was transferred is full," Tepco spokesman Junichi Matsumoto said.
©japantimes.co.jp
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