TOKYO – A Japanese power company executive apologised on Saturday for spreading radiation into the air and sea as regulators said the pumping of radioactive water into waters off Japan from a crippled nuclear plant would end one day later than planned.
The apology from Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) came a day after China and South Korea expressed concern at the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi plant smashed by last month’s earthquake, reflecting growing international unease over the month-long nuclear crisis.
“It is almost a month since the earthquake took place. I would like to apologise from my heart over the worries and troubles we are causing for society due to the release of radiological materials into the atmosphere and seawater,” Sakae Muto, a TEPCO vice president, told a news conference.
“We caused worry and trouble for having made this decision without taking sufficient time to explain the matter beforehand to those involved, to the press, to the fishing industry and to people overseas, and we are sorry for this,” he added. Hidehiko Nishiyama, a deputy director-general at Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, earlier told reporters “we are working on releasing water … we are likely to finish this tomorrow.”
He said a condenser at the No.2 reactor had been emptied of low-radiation water on Saturday, making room for engineers to shift highly radioactive water from the reactor’s trench. “To prevent radioactive water in the trench from overflowing is an important step considering a possible further contamination of the sea,” Nishiyama said. Plant operator TEPCO said earlier it expected to stop pumping tainted water into the sea on Saturday, but work was interrupted by a powerful aftershock on Thursday.
TEPCO is struggling to contain the worst atomic crisis since Chernobyl. Engineers say they are far from in control of the damaged reactors and it could take months to stabilise them and years to clear up the toxic mess left behind. Nuclear reactor maker Toshiba Corp has proposed a 10-year plan to decommission four of the six damaged reactors at the plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, said Kyodo news agency.
But the government has said it was too early to have a “specific road map” for ending the crisis. Nishiyama said Japan would look into the electric power back-up system that had failed after the tsunami, leaving operators unable to cool the reactor. “Based on this experience, we need to review everything in the direction of safety,” he said.
