An order to cut worker doses at Fukushima Daiichi unit 4 and a request to release plant groundwater into the sea highlighted the news from Japan this week.
Developments related to the Tokyo Electric Power Co. plant severely damaged following Japan's 2011 earthquake and tsunami include:
NRA to TEPCO: Cut Dose at Unit 4
Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority ordered TEPCO to reduce doses among workers removing fuel from the spent fuel pool at unit 4, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Surveys of the work site showed areas of high radiation that the NRA attributed to cobalt-60 disturbed during cutting inside the pool. The NRA did not suggest that fuel removal should stop, though, and it noted that placing lead plates on the floor reduced the dose by about two-thirds.
Government Seeks Fishermen's OK to Release Fukushima Groundwater
Japan's industry ministry on Monday sought approval from an organization representing commercial fishermen to release groundwater from Fukushima into the sea. TEPCO has installed a dozen wells at the plant to pump up groundwater before it reaches damaged reactor buildings but has not put them to use because of a shortage of storage space and local resistance to discharging into the sea. Kyodo reported that the National Federation of Fisheries Co-operative Associations is considering a government proposal to release groundwater with less than 5 becquerels per liter of beta-ray emitting contaminants and less than 1,500 becquerels per liter of tritium – well below legal limits.