Nuclear Meltdown

Japan tries not to dump more radioactive water into sea

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-04-05 16:02

TOKYO - Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Banri Kaieda said Tuesday that Japan would endeavor not to dump any more radioactive water from the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean.

The trade minister's comments followed embattled plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) releasing a total of 11,500 tons of low-level radiated water into the ocean on Monday.

The releasing of water was aimed at freeing up more space to store highly-radioactive water from in and around the troubled No. 2 reactor at the plant, so as to ease restoration work at the radiation-leaking facility.

Related readings:  Radioactive Iodine found in US drinking water  Radioactive water released into sea  Radioactive cesium detected in more Chinese regions  Japan: Radioactive water still leaking

Kaieda also said that the estimated 20,000 tons of radioactive water, up to 500 times the legal limit, should be moved from the vicinity of the No. 2 reactor into the plant's proper storage facility where radioactive waste is usually treated.

The monitoring of radioactive levels in the area will be increased as the impact on marine life is as yet unknown, the trade minister also added.

The government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, who originally signed off on Monday's move, added that while there would be no health risks to humans, the affect on marine life following the release of contaminated water into the ocean remains uncertain.

Separately, Kaida also said Tuesday that the government has ordered TEPCO to make provisional compensation payments to the 80, 000 evacuees who previously lived within a 20-kilometer radius of the Daiichi plant, as well as local farmers who have had shipments of their produce halted due to contamination fears.

The amount of compensation will be decided through consultations between TEPCO and the government and will be issued swiftly, a spokesperson for the utility firm said.

While estimations of the cost of restoration and reconstruction efforts following the massive magnitude-9.0 quake and tsunami that devastated regions in the east and northeast of Japan on March 11 have been pegged at somewhere in the region of 118 billion U.S. dollars, the government said Tuesday that no new bonds would be issued to finance the first of multiple budgets needed to pay for the massive operation.

Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said that the government would cover the costs on their own and implied that extra funds could be secured through cutting planned policy spending.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said that he intends to submit a budget proposal for this fiscal year to parliament by the end of April, although a number of lawmakers have said that more such budgets will likely be needed to fully deal with the post-quake and tsunami destruction.