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http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20111208_30.htmlThe operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says it is considering releasing low-level radioactive water into the nearby sea. The Japanese fishery industry strongly opposes the plan.
Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, says that it is currently decontaminating radioactive water amassed in the basement of the reactor buildings at Fukushima Daiichi and then recycling it as coolant for the reactors. The surplus water is being stored in tanks at the site of the plant.
TEPCO says that the tanks, which have a capacity of 160-thousand tons of water, will be full up by March next year, because, in a separate development, groundwater of a maximum 500 tons per day is pouring into the basement of the buildings.
TEPCO says it plans to further reduce the level of radioactivity of the decontaminated water in Fukushima Daiichi to below the level at which government standards allow it to be discharged into the sea. The utility says it will consider releasing the water into the Pacific Ocean.
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