Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
9/5/2014
SUMMERLIN, Nev.—The Mitsubishi Research Institute, one of the leaders of the Fukushima cleanup, has chosen Kurion, along with two other firms, to move forward in its tritium removal technology procurement to aid in the treatment of the contaminated water problem at the site. The other teams include bids from RosRAO and the Khlopin Radium Institute (a company of Rosatom), as well as GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada. The three teams will demonstrate their technology for a price of $100 billion yen, or $9.8 million, according to Kurion President John Raymont. “TEPCO [Tokyo Electric Power Company] and the federal government studied tritium removal and came up with a price tag of $100 billion to do this,” Raymont said here this week at this year’s RadWaste Summit. “We decided we could probably get in under that price with our technology; in fact, we are way under that price. They held a very detailed procurement process this summer. Twenty-nine applicants came in and we were selected as one of the finalists. We will get a $1 billion yen subsidiary … the fact is that is about $9.8 million so that is a sizable subsidiary to do a demonstration. So, we are starting that up now.” Kurion declined to provide further information beyond Raymont’s comments.
Tiritum is a water contamination problem that the Japanese still did not have a solution for at the Fukushima site. Some within the government suggested that dilution from the Pacific Ocean would solve the problem. They advocated for the dumping of the contaminated water in the sea in an effort to rid the site of the problem. This drew the ire of environmental groups and local fisherman surrounding the Fukushima site. “Under the current permits, which limit how much you can overboard any year, it would take them 40 years to overboard the current amount of water, and you are talking about dumping it right into the precious Japanese fishing grounds,” Raymont said.
Kurion has been heavily involved in the Fukushima cleanup. Earlier this summer, the company announced a contract with TEPCO to provide a mobile system to treat the water tanks at the Fukushima-Daiichi Power Station. Kurion previously provided treatment at the cleanup site to remove cesium from groundwater back in 2011, and the new contract calls for the removal of strontium from the water that is currently being stored in the tanks. According to Raymont’s presentation, TEPCO liked the system so much it ordered a second mobile processing system to aid in the water treatment. The water in the tanks had previously been treated by Kurion and other similar systems to remove cesium. Water contamination remains a priority for the cleanup, with TEPCO making multiple attempts, including a groundwater pumping system and ‘ice wall’ to prevent the further contamination of water at the site.
