Japan.- Rust found in the tanks that store radioactive water at the Fukushima nuclear power plant

MADRID, 21 (EUROPA PRESS)

Operators of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant have revealed that rust has been found inside the tanks in which treated radioactive water from the damaged plant is stored, the Japanese news agency Kyodo has reported.

Sources from the electricity company Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. (TEPCO) have explained that the discovery is not due to a problem with the resistance of the tanks, but to the age of the more than 1,000 containers that make up the plant.

Some of them were installed more than 10 years ago and “have aged over time,” an official explained to Kyodo, assuring that they will continue with inspections of the warehouses.

Given the impossibility of inspecting the interior of the tanks that house the treated water, TEPCO has been carrying out annual exterior inspections to detect possible anomalies.

Thus, for example, in March, small signs of deterioration – peeling paint and rust – were already reported in three empty tanks that had been in use since 2016.

Additionally, tanks in use for more than 10 years also have the thickness of the steel in their plates measured with ultrasonic waves to evaluate their resistance, according to TEPCO.

The meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan, caused by the devastating March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, represents the most serious nuclear power accident of the 21st century so far. However, both the Japanese government and the company itself have assured that the treated water released by the Fukushima plant is diluted to reduce tritium levels to less than one 40th of the country’s national safety standards.