Levels of contaminated water flooding unit 1 at Japan's disabled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant have fluctuated considerably in recent days as Tokyo Electric Power Co. searches for new leaks.Starting Monday morning, Japan time, water levels in unit 1 rose 376 millimeters in roughly 24 hours before dropping by 79 millimeters between Wednesday and Thursday, the Daily Yomiuri newspaper quoted TEPCO officials as saying. Flooding from the March 11 tsunami that disabled cooling systems at the plant and subsequent efforts to quench reactors and their spent-fuel pools have left basements at several units filled with radioactive water. TEPCO has spent weeks moving much of it to a converted storage building, reactor condensers and several storage tanks brought to the plant.Still, tons of contaminated water sits in reactor basements, adding to radiation doses and posing a significant impediment to work on reactor cooling systems. A system of tunnels connects buildings at the plant, leaving TEPCO with incomplete information about both the source of the water and where it has gone when levels drop. TEPCO said it is investigating whether the recent water-level drop in the reactor building of unit 1 was caused by a leak into the turbine building of unit 2.TEPCO announced developments at that unit Thursday, as well. The utility recently installed a water circulation system for its spent fuel tank, and the water temperature within had fallen considerably, from 70 C to 42 C between Tuesday and Thursday, TEPCO reported.
(Photo: The Megafloat - one of a number of storage containers for contaminated water at Fukushima Daiichi. Source: TEPCO)
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