TEPCO to install filtered vent at nuclear reactor

Tokyo Electric Power says it will install a filter-equipped emergency vent system to reduce levels of radioactivity released in the air in case of a meltdown at a nuclear power plant.

The company said on Thursday that it will start work to install the system at the Number 7 reactor of its Kashiwazaki plant in Niigata next week.

The system comprises a water tank 4 meters long and 8 meters high, to be installed next to the reactor.

In an emergency, contaminated steam released from a reactor vessel to lower pressure inside the structure would be filtered through water before it enters the atmosphere.

The process can reduce levels of radioactive iodine and cesium by a factor of up to 1,000.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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