Fukushima

TEPCO to cement 73,000 sq meters of seabed off Fukushima

Japan Today, 

22 February,, 2012

The operator of Japan’s tsunami-crippled nuclear plant is to cover a large swathe of seabed near the battered reactors with cement in a bid to halt the spread of radiation, the company said Wednesday.

A clay-cement compound will be laid over 73,000 square meters of the floor of the Pacific in front of the Fukushima Daiichi plant on the nation’s northeast coast, said Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO).

The area is equivalent to around 10 soccer pitches.

“This is meant to prevent further contamination of the ocean… as sample tests have shown a relatively high concentration of radioactive substances in the sea soil in the bay,” a company spokeswoman said.

Reactors at the plant went into meltdown after their cooling systems were knocked out by the monster tsunami of March last year, which was generated by a huge undersea earthquake.

Contaminated water from the plant leaked into the sea and radioactive particles concentrated on the seabed. Scientists fear ocean currents could pollute areas further afield.

The cover will be 60 centimeters thick, with 10 centimeters expected to be eaten away by seawater every 50 years, the TEPCO official said.