Fukushima TEPCO sets Decontamination Deadline, Sick Workers, Loose Bolts, Scrap 5&6 Update 9/20/13

Important update today. Parts include the following: (death in 20 seconds with waste)
TEPCO's water purification plan faces difficulties

The operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says it will purify all the radioactive water at the site by March 2015.
But observers say that won't be easy.
Tokyo Electric Power Company said Thursday there's a total of 440,000 tons of contaminated water in the basement of the turbine buildings and in storage tanks. The utility says there's another 15,000 tons in tunnels under the compound.
Containing the radioactive water was the main issue Prime Minister Shinzo Abe discussed with TEPCO on Thursday during his visit to the plant.
The utility plans to install 2 more water treatment devices in addition to one now in place. But its trial run is currently on hold because of damage caused by corrosion.
One of the two additional devices is a high performance model. TEPCO hopes the three devices will enable it to treat 1,500 tons of water a day. That's 3 times the present rate.
But the water-treatment devices cannot remove tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen.
TEPCO also has a plan to release clean groundwater into the ocean before it is contaminated by the facilities area. It will do that by forming a bypass around the plant.
But there are growing fears that a leak of 300 tons of tainted water from a storage tank could be affecting the groundwater before it reaches the facility.
Local fishermen are worried this could further hurt Fukushima's image and delay the restart of the local fishery.
Observers say TEPCO needs to come up with a credible plan to deal with these problems.
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New nuclear waste disposal plan presented to panel

Japan's Industry Ministry has proposed a new way of disposing of highly radioactive nuclear waste that can be retrieved, if needed, after it is buried underground.
Ministry officials made the new proposal to its panel of experts on Friday.
They explained radioactive waste might need to be recovered from an underground storage if something happens that requires a review of the method, or if new technology to lower its toxicity is developed.
The ministry plans to bury high-level radioactive waste more than 300 meters underground, where it would remain for tens of thousands of years.
The ministry has been considering storage sites for 13 years, but the process had been stymied by strong public concern.
The Science Council of Japan said last year that since Japan is prone to seismic and volcanic activity using current technology it is difficult to determine sites that will remain stable for tens of thousands of years.
The ministry began overhauling plans in May this year.
Ministry officials say a time limit cannot be placed on how long the new proposal will be discussed.
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Inose: Tainted water not necessarily under control

Tokyo Governor Naoki Inose says that the problem of radioactive water leaking from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant isn't necessarily under control.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared at the general assembly of the International Olympic Committee in Buenos Aires that the situation at Fukushima is under control.
The IOC chose Tokyo as the host city for the 2020 summer Olympics and Paralympics.
At a news conference on Friday, Inose said the most important thing is that Abe expressed his determination to bring the situation under control.
The governor praised Abe for dispelling widely spread speculation and concern about the leakage problem.
Inose added that he expects the central government to do all it can to solve the problem.
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Motegi: Scrapping 2 reactors helps

Japan's industry minister says decommissioning 2 undamaged reactors at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi plant would help accelerate scrapping of the facility's damaged reactors.
Toshimitsu Motegi was speaking on Friday a day after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe asked the plant's operator to decommission the Number 5 and 6 reactors.
The 2 reactors, unlike the plant's other 4, remained intact after the 2011 massive quake and tsunami. But local municipalities have been demanding that Tokyo Electric Power Company scrap them.
Motegi said decommissioning the 2 would create space to build more tanks to store contaminated wastewater.
He added that during the scrapping process, the operator could use the 2 reactors' facilities to train its engineers. He said such training is impossible at the damaged No. 1 to 4 reactors due to high radiation.
Referring to a massive buildup of contaminated water at the plant, Motegi said the government will allocate state funds to install a high-performance water treatment device there.
He said the government and the company will do their best to complete work to purify the water by the end of March 2015, without sticking to a schedule.
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