According to TEPCO, the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) -- designed to decontaminate the water used to cool melted reactors -- was turned off after leaks were discovered by workers Monday night, Al Jazeera Americareports.
At the time of the suspension, the cleaning system had just been restarted after being shut down for nearly a week, due to a glitch, Jiji news network reports. Just one example of the highly-criticized clean-up operation, this system has worked inconsisently since operations began a year ago, AFPreports.
The latest shutdown is a major blow to TEPCO's stated strategy, which "regards ALPS as a key facility to deal with contaminated water at the plant," according to Jiji.
The incident comes as the facility continues to produce huge volumes of radioactive water, with 436,000 cubic meters of contaminated water currently being stored in approximately 1,200 tanks -- an amount that is constantly growing, according toAFP.
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According to TEPCO, the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) -- designed to decontaminate the water used to cool melted reactors -- was turned off after leaks were discovered by workers Monday night, Al Jazeera Americareports.
At the time of the suspension, the cleaning system had just been restarted after being shut down for nearly a week, due to a glitch, Jiji news network reports. Just one example of the highly-criticized clean-up operation, this system has worked inconsisently since operations began a year ago, AFPreports.
The latest shutdown is a major blow to TEPCO's stated strategy, which "regards ALPS as a key facility to deal with contaminated water at the plant," according to Jiji.
The incident comes as the facility continues to produce huge volumes of radioactive water, with 436,000 cubic meters of contaminated water currently being stored in approximately 1,200 tanks -- an amount that is constantly growing, according toAFP.
_____________________
According to TEPCO, the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) -- designed to decontaminate the water used to cool melted reactors -- was turned off after leaks were discovered by workers Monday night, Al Jazeera Americareports.
At the time of the suspension, the cleaning system had just been restarted after being shut down for nearly a week, due to a glitch, Jiji news network reports. Just one example of the highly-criticized clean-up operation, this system has worked inconsisently since operations began a year ago, AFPreports.
The latest shutdown is a major blow to TEPCO's stated strategy, which "regards ALPS as a key facility to deal with contaminated water at the plant," according to Jiji.
The incident comes as the facility continues to produce huge volumes of radioactive water, with 436,000 cubic meters of contaminated water currently being stored in approximately 1,200 tanks -- an amount that is constantly growing, according toAFP.
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