Japan considers using huge sheets to contain radioactive substances
April 4th, 2011 - 2:42 pm ICT by ANITokyo, Apr.4 (ANI): The Japan Government has asked Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, to consider wrapping the containment buildings with large amounts of sheeting material to control leaking radioactive substances.
The proposal calls for building framed structures around the containment buildings and then wrapping them with the sheeting, Kyodo News reports.
The cost of wrapping all four buildings in this manner would cost about 80 billion yen and take up to two months, sources claim.
However, atomic energy experts are skeptical about the feasibility of the plan, which was proposed by a general construction firm, saying it would only have a limited effect in blocking the leaking radioactive substances from contaminating the environment.
Osaka University professor Keiji Miyazaki said that the move would be risky as the sheeting could be torn apart by heat emanating from nuclear reactors adding that the cooling systems of the reactors should be restored as soon as possible instead.
Ritsumeikan University professor Ikuro Anzai said that the release of radioactive substances into the atmosphere and the ground could be blocked if such a containment was possible but the risk of radiation levels going up inside the sheeting would hamper further restoration work, including spraying water onto the reactors.
A source close to the government has criticized its latest move, saying that the politicians and TEPCO management adopted the proposal from a construction company that does not have deep knowledge about nuclear power plants. (ANI)
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Tags: anzai, atomic energy, construction company, construction firm, containment, cooling systems, energy experts, general construction, japan government, keiji, kyodo news, miyazaki, nuclear plant, nuclear power plants, nuclear reactors, osaka university, radiation levels, radioactive substances, restoration work, tokyo electric power company