Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) has selected Kurion, pioneer in nuclear and hazardous waste management, to deliver at-tank mobile system to remove strontium from tank water at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Once fully operational, the new technological system will be first of its kind in the word.
The new Kurion Mobile Processing System (KMPS) will be removed around the site and placed next to stationary tanks.
It is designed to reduce strontium (Sr) from around 400 metric tons of water contained within numerous tanks on-site.
According to the contract, Kurion must deliver a system that can treat at least 300 tons of water per day.
For the separation of less harmful contaminants from strontium within KMPS, Kurion will use a different proprietary, inorganic and easily vitrified ion-exchange media.
The whole system is expected to be operational this summer.
The project is a key step that would contribute significantly towards nuclear clean-up at Fukushima. In 2011 Kurion was created as a result of the international effort lead by nuclear waste management companies to quickly deliver the first-ever external reactor cooling and purification system, which is still operating currently, three years later.
John Raymont, Kurion founder and president, said in a statement: “Kurion has been honored to work alongside TEPCO in the initial 2011 recovery and since to address caesium, which presented the greatest immediate threat to human safety and the environment.
“Today, strontium is the greatest emitter of radiation impacting site dose-rates. So, reducing strontium in tank water stored on-site will significantly improve worker safety and reduce the risk to the surrounding environment.”
Due to the high variability in water contaminant content across the hundreds of tanks, Kurion will collaborate with TEPCO to implement Kaizen principles to ensure system’s operations and performance are being improved.
“We are committed to helping TEPCO and the Japanese people find a solution for the waste at the Fukushima Daiichi site,” commented Bill Gallo, Kurion CEO.
“Since Kurion started working with TEPCO in 2011, we have grown our team by more than tenfold and expanded our technologies and services to provide the scale and breadth of solutions needed for Fukushima and other nuclear and hazardous waste challenges worldwide.”
Photo Source: Power Engineering