[June 21, 2011] ROUNDUP: Decontamination system test resumes at Japan nuclear plant Eds: Releads with test run resumes, adds introduction of new robot Tweet TOKYO, Jun 21, 2011 (dpa - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The operator of a damaged Japanese nuclear plant resumed a test run of a new water-treatment system Tuesday after it pump problems suspended it earlier in the day. Tokyo Electric Power Co said the pump stopped functioning in the morning due to the flow of a large amount of water. It resumed the operation after adjustments. The system designed to decontaminate highly radioactive water stopped only five hours into full operation on Friday at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, 250 kilometres north-east of Tokyo. The operator concluded on Monday that absorbent materials inside the decontamination equipment needed changing more frequently than previously estimated, public broadcaster NHK reported. The company is trying to reduce radioactivity in water that has accumulated around the plant as a result of emergency measures to cool the reactor cores. Storage facilities for contaminated water were reaching capacity. Several of the plant's six reactors have been overheating and leaking radioactive material since it was damaged in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Japan's Atomic Energy Agency announced Tuesday that it would introduce a robot to cope with the nuclear crisis. The robot called the JAEA-3 can measure gamma rays and display them on a computer. It can also detect radiation levels at a distance of 50 metres and can be remote-controlled, Jiji Press reported. The robot can withstand high-radiation areas at the plant. To see more of dpa, go to http://www.dpa.de/English.82.0.html Copyright (c) 2011, dpa, Berlin Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]