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    June 17, 2011

Japan Begins Cleaning Radioactive Water at Damaged Nuclear Plant

   VOA News
   Temporary storage tanks for low and middle level radioactive water from
   Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) Co.'s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power
   Station's No.1, No.2, No.3 and No.4 reactors are seen at the grounds of
   the plant in Fukushima prefecture, June 5, 2
   Photo: Reuters/TEPCO
   Temporary storage tanks for low and middle level radioactive water from
   Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) Co.'s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power
   Station's No.1, No.2, No.3 and No.4 reactors are seen at the grounds of
   the plant in Fukushima prefecture, June 5, 2011.

   The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant on
   Friday began a process to decontaminate more than 110,000 tons of
   radioactive water.
   The water was used to cool the plant's reactors after a nuclear
   meltdown caused by a massive earthquake and tsunami in March. It has
   been held in reservoirs at the plant, but Tokyo Electric Power Company
   says those tanks are nearly full.
   Company officials say they plan to remove radioactive elements, oil and
   salt from the water and then reuse it in the effort to fully shutdown
   the reactors.
   But cleaning the water will create radioactive sludge, which the
   company will have to store.
   Also Friday, the president of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono,
   indicated his country will move cautiously on proposals to build a
   nuclear power plant.
   Yudhoyono, while on a visit to Japan, told Japanese reporters that his
   country will consider all methods for meeting its energy needs, but
   needs to be careful about nuclear power because, like Japan, Indonesia
   is prone to earthquakes. Indonesia has been developing a plan to build
   a nuclear power plant over the next decade.
   The president also expressed his sympathy for the victims of the March
   11 disaster, which left more than 23,000 people dead or missing. The
   disaster also destroyed the homes and livelihoods of tens of thousands
   of people in northeastern Japan.