Purple Diary
[04/05/2011]
Tepco discharges radioactive water into Pacific Ocean
Since Monday, TEPCO has started to discharge 11 500 tonnes of ‘low-level radioactive’ water into the Pacific Ocean. TEPCO plans to dump 10 000 tonnes of this water originating from the reactors to make way for new volumes of highly radioactive water, which have been used to cool the damaged reactors. The remaining 1 500 tonnes, from reactors 5 and 6 will be released into the ocean over five days – at a rate of 300 tonnes daily.
The polluted water will be released into “an already highly contaminated water”, reminds Didier Champion, director of the French Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN). “The principal risk for the population resides in the consumption of fish, crustaceans or contaminated algae,” explains Champion, “I would recommend the banning of fishing in this area”. According to the agency Associated Press, water rejected into the ocean would present a level of radioactivity 500 times over the legal limits. Source: Le Figaro
