Japan nuke plant releases tested ground water

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TOKYO — Japan’s crippled nuclear power plant has begun pumping groundwater from the least contaminated areas near the facility of the facility into the ocean so that it does not seep into areas that are contaminated.

TOKYO — Japan’s crippled nuclear power plant has begun pumping groundwater from the least contaminated areas near the facility of the facility into the ocean so that it does not seep into areas that are contaminated.

Wednesday’s release involves 560 tons of ground water pumped from 12 wells dug upstream of the damaged reactors at Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant. The water, temporarily stored in a tank, has been deemed clean enough to pump into the ocean without treatment.

The plant has significantly stabilized since the March 2011 meltdowns but the build-up of contaminated water at the facility is a major problem.

The plant operator says space is running out and some of that water must be released into the sea, but that plan has met strong resistance.