Japan Nuclear Plant Starts Pumping Out Radioactive Water

The crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan

Workers have begun moving highly radioactive water to a storage facility from a reactor at the Japanese nuclear power plant which was badly damaged by last month's earthquake and tsunami.

Removing the 25,000 tons of contaminated water that has collected in the basement of the Fukushima Daiichi plant will allow workers access to the reactors to restore their cooling systems.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which runs the plant, has said that it would take up to nine months to bring the situation under control at the nuclear station, which has been leaking radiation ever since the March 11 disaster.

compiled from agency reports