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Generation of radioactive water at Fukushima-1 power plant recedes by 75%

The achievement represents a mid-term goal, according to TEPCO's Chief Decommissioning Officer Akira Ono

TOKYO, March 4. /TASS/. Specialists from the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) managed to reduce the generation of irradiated water in the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant by almost 75%, Chief Decommissioning Officer Akira Ono said Thursday.

"We managed to achieve the middle-term goal," he said.

According to the official, in May 2014, about 540 cubic meters of radioactive water accumulated at the nuclear power plant every day; in 2020, decommissioning crew managed to reduce this figure to 140 cubic meters per day.

The Fukushima-1 disaster took place in March 2011, when a tsunami damaged cooling and power supply systems at the power plant, which led to nuclear fuel meltdown in three reactos. The fuel burned through the protective shielding. In order to cool down the fuel, the reactors are being constantly pumped with water, which leaks through holes, fills the basement levels of the reactor buildings and the drainage system and eventually mixes with groundwater.

TEPCO specialists constantly pump away this water and put it into special steel reservoirs, located on the premises of the power plant. However, the space for these tanks has been shrinking quite dramatically, forcing Japan to consider dumping decontaminated water into the ocean. Japan’s neighbors, especially South Korea, expressed concerns over such plans, citing environmental risks.