Japan-Made decontamination unit to begin operation

Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, will begin operation of a new Japan-made decontamination unit as early as Thursday afternoon at its troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Full-fledged operations follow after a successful test run that started on Tuesday, according to Japanese (NHK WORLD). The new unit consists of 14 cylindrical tanks containing a mineral called zeolite, which absorbs cesium and other radioactive substances. Cleaning radioactive water from reactors in a stable manner is among the most urgent issues to bring the ongoing nuclear accident under control. The decontaminated water is injected back into the reactors to cool them. The existing decontamination system has been plagued with trouble, and its foreign-made components have repeatedly failed. This has brought the system''s operating rate down to 69 percent, far below the initial target of 90 percent. TEPCO plans to use the existing system along with the new one. The utility hopes the new unit will help achieve stable circulatory cooling of the reactors.