(KCPW News) EnergySolutions will have a hand in cleaning up radioactively contaminated seawater at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan that was used to cool nuclear reactors after an earthquake and tsunami severely damaged the plant last year. The company will now work with Toshiba to decontaminate about 40 million gallons of water. EnergySolutions President Val Christensen says the water is highly radioactive and dangerous.
“It’s in tanks right now and they’ve built tanks in an area where it wouldn’t be exposed to further natural disasters.” He says. “That is they’ve done the best they can, but it’s water that eventually has to be dealt with.”
Christensen says when the water is clean, it will either be released back into the ocean or used for other purposes.
EnergySolutions competed with a number of companies around the world to get the contract. Christensen says it’s a strong endorsement of its technology, engineers and designers, and a testament to its focus on exports.
“So it’s very gratifying to us and we’re becoming more and more relevant in the world.” He says. “This is a huge calling card for us as we approach similar issues in Germany and elsewhere.”
The company’s announcement came the same day is released its fourth quarter earnings, showing a net loss of $196 million dollars for fiscal year 2011.
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