Pumping water

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant began pumping up radioactive groundwater on a larger scale on Thursday to minimize leakage into the ocean.The government says some 300 tons of contaminated water may be flowing into the sea every day.Tokyo Electric Power Company erected an embankment between the most heavily contaminated reactors -- No.2 and No.3 -- but the level of groundwater continues to rise.TEPCO began pumping up the contaminated water as an emergency measure on Friday.The firm has also been installing nearly 30 pipes, each 5 meters long, into the ground near the embankment to increase the volume of water that it can draw up.TEPCO says after it completes the installation of the pipes on Sunday, it plans to pump up about 60 tons of water a day.  The removed water is to be ultimately stored in tanks above ground in the plant's compound.TEPCO says after it started to pump up water from a small well that it dug near the embankment, the level of groundwater at a nearby observation point dropped by about 50 centimeters.The problem of the leaking water has yet to be fundamentally resolved, as 35 tons of groundwater is projected to escape every day even after work to solidify the ground from the No.1 to No.4 reactors is completed.

Aug. 15, 2013 - Updated 08:08