UPDATE 1-Japan to dump 11,500 tonnes radioactive water

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/04/japan-nuclear-water-idUSLDE73327T20110\

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UPDATE 1-Japan to dump 11,500 tonnes radioactive water

Mon Apr 4, 2011 5:33pm EDT

* Water dumped to avoid " more serious risk " - Japan official

* Japan briefs IAEA member states on nuclear crisis

* But IAEA safety head says much information not available

(Adds quotes, detail)

By Sylvia Westall and Fredrik Dahl

VIENNA, April 4 (Reuters) - Japan needs to discharge a total of 11,500 tonnes of

low-contaminated water into the ocean from a stricken nuclear power plant, a

Japanese official said on Monday.

Koichiro Nakamura, a deputy director general of Japan's Nuclear and Industrial

Safety Agency (NISA), said the measure was needed to " avoid a more serious

risk " , without elaborating.

He spoke at a news conference after he and other Japanese officials briefed

member states of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna about

the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) (9501.T) was forced on Monday to

release low-level radioactive seawater that had been used to cool overheated

fuel rods after it ran out of storage capacity for more highly contaminated

water.