JAPAN: Tokyo says it will continue to update the IAEA on the effects of the radioactive water release from damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant

Record ID: 1526634

  • Title: JAPAN: Tokyo says it will continue to update the IAEA on the effects of the radioactive water release from damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant
  • Date: 6th April 2011
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (APRIL 5, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF TOKYO ELECTRIC POWER CO TOKYO ELECTRIC POWER OFFICIALS ENTERING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) TOKYO ELECTRIC POWER CO. EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, TAKASHI FUJIMOTO, SAYING: "Whether or not our company and the government will shoulder the cost is something that we need to deal with. We are discussing that now and we do not have any result as of yet" OFFICIALS STANDING UP AND BOWING
  • Embargoed: 21st April 2011 04:52
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan, Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: International Relations,Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVACPDW4KENKTKT8GYHZWX6AP0WC
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Japan said on Tuesday (April 6) it was in close contact with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and neighbouring countries as workers at a stricken nuclear reactor began releasing water contaminated with low levels of radiation into the sea.
    "We don't believe that this current situation will have a direct effect on surrounding countries. But it does involve nuclear power, so there is alot of interest. But there is a Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident and based on that we are voluntarily offering information on the situation to the IAEA and other countries," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano at a regular news conference in Tokyo.
    Lack of information, both from Japan and the International Atomic Energy Agency, has been a complaint frequently voiced by diplomats and the media since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami which severely damaged the Fukushima Daiichi plant and caused the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986.
    Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) started releasing the water used to cool overheated fuel rods on Monday (April 4) after it ran out of storage capacity for more highly contaminated water. The water is 100 times more radioactive than legal limits.
    TEPCO said the stricken plant needs to discharge a total of 11,500 tonnes of water with low-levels of contamination into the sea around the leaking plant to "avoid a more serious risk".
    Meanwhile, TEPCO senior officials said the company had started paying "condolence money" to victims of the accident and was discussing the issue of compensation.
    TEPCO has offered 20 million yen ($238,000) in condolence money to towns near the reactors whose residents were forced to evacuate. A TEPCO official said they offered that sum to 10 towns but one refused to take the money.
    The company faces a huge bill for the damage caused by its crippled reactors, but said it must first assess the extent of damage before paying actual compensation.
    "Whether or not our company and the government will shoulder the cost is something that we need to deal with. We are discussing that now and we do not have any result as of yet," said Tokyo Electric Power Co. Executive Vice President Takashi Fujimoto at a news conference.
    In desperation, engineers at the Fukushima Daiichi plant on Tuesday turned to "liquid glass" in the hope of plugging cracks in a leaking concrete pit and stem a leak of radioactive water.
    Workers are struggling to restart cooling pumps - which recycle the water - in four reactors damaged by last month's 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami.
    Their problem is that until those are fixed, they must pump in water from outside to prevent overheating and meltdowns. In the process, that creates more contaminated water that has to be pumped out and stored somewhere else or released into the sea.
    There is a total of 60,000 tonnes of highly contaminated water in the plant after workers frantically poured in seawater when fuel rods experienced partial meltdown after the tsunami hit northeast Japan on March 11.
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