Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
5/23/2014

The Tokyo Electric Power Company announced this week that it has begun the process of bypassing clean groundwater around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. Water management issues and the prevention of contamination spread to clean groundwater have been problem areas for TEPCO throughout the beginning phases of the cleanup of the damaged plant. The bypass system is an attempt to reduce the accumulation of contaminated water by intercepting the clean groundwater before it reaches the plant by rerouting it around the plant into the sea. TEPCO said that once the system reaches its full operation capacity, it should reduce the amount flowing into the building’s basements by up to 100 tons per day, a reduction of 25 percent. “We would like to express our sincere appreciation to many parties, including Fukushima Prefecture and members of the fishing industry, for their understanding in the operation of the groundwater bypass, which plays an important role among the countermeasures to suppress the increase of contaminated water,” Fukushima Daiichi Decontamination & Decommissioning Engineering Company President Naohiro Masuda said in a statement. “In operating the bypass, we will pay strict attention to the management of the relevant facilities and, in conjunction with analysis by third parties, maintain the water quality to conform to operational targets.”

According to TEPCO, the system aims to intercept the groundwater upstream. TEPCO has placed 12 pump-up wells on the upstream side of the site’s buildings that will pump the groundwater to the surface. Once it has reached the surface, the groundwater is delivered to a special tank through a series of pipes. The water will then be monitored for quality, and when it meets the standard criteria, the water will be discharged. “In operating the bypass, we will pay strict attention to the management of the relevant facilities and, in conjunction with analysis by third parties, maintain the water quality to conform to operational targets,” Masuda said. 

Groundwater bypass is one of several strategies being employed to reduce the accumulation of contaminated water at the plant. Most notably, a state-funded project is attempting to surround the site with an ice wall that would go into the ground to prevent the water from spreading on-site. Construction on the wall could start as soon as June, TEPCO has previously said.