The Japanese Government has asked Russia to send a special radiation treatment vessel to help dispose of contaminated water from Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
A spokesman for Russia’s state-controlled nuclear agency Rosatom said that Russian officials are considering the request.
The Russian vessel treats radioactive liquids as part of the decommissioning of nuclear submarines. It was built in a joint venture between Russia and Japan, The Chosun Ilbo reports.
Tokyo Electric Power Company began releasing more than 10,000 tons of contaminated water from nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean, freeing storage space for even more highly radioactive water that has hampered efforts to stabilize the reactors.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the step is “unavoidable” to ensure safety. He said the water to be released is much less radioactive than the water that will be pumped into the storage tanks, mainly from the Fukushima plant’s No. 2 reactor.
Officials have recorded levels of radioactivity thousands of times higher than the legal limit in waters near the Fukushima plant, where cooling systems for all six reactors were crippled by a massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11. (ANI)
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