Potter creates ceramic cure to help stop radioactive water leaks at Fukushima
By KEIZO FUKATSU/ Staff Writer
YOKKAICHI, Mie Prefecture--A manufacturer of traditional ceramics has created special blocks that can absorb water, a development that could enable radioactive water at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant to be stored safely.
Contaminated water would not leak if it is stored inside the blocks, said Taiji Mizutani, who heads Mizutani Shoten. We will commercialize the product after verification experiments and hope evacuees from Fukushima will be able to return to their homes as early as possible.
Mizutani came up with the idea of developing water-absorbing blocks with unglazed ceramics when he was working as a volunteer in the Tohoku region, which was devastated by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
The 37-year-old expressed concern about frequent reports of highly radioactive water leaking from storage tanks at the stricken plant.
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201505270060