 |
| Plant building with leak in the foreground |
The operator of the tsunami-crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant
said on Tuesday it had found a pool of highly contaminated water on the
roof of a plant building and that it had probably leaked into the sea
through a gutter when it rained.
The finding comes four years after a massive earthquake and tsunami
caused meltdowns at Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc’s Fukushima reactors,
and 1-1/2 years after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe assured the
International Olympic Committee that radiation leaks at the plant were
“under control”.
TEPCO said it has been aware since last spring that radiation levels
in water running in one of the plant gutters rise when it rains but had
confirmed the source of the contamination only on Tuesday.
Leakage of contaminated water into the sea in and of itself does not
violate regulations because the outflow of radiation from the plant is
controlled by monitoring radiation levels in sea water, a Nuclear
Regulation Agency official said.
There have been no meaningful changes in radiation levels in sea water nearby, Tokyo Electric said.
The electric utility believes gravel and blocks laid on the roof of
the building are the source of contamination, and said it plans to
remove them by the end of March and take other measures to stop
rainwater from being contaminated.
Sample rainwater collected at one corner of the rooftop contained
23,000 becquerels per liter of cesium 137, more than 10 times as high as
radiation levels in sample water taken from other parts of the roof,
Tokyo Electric said.
Reuters
No comments:
Post a Comment
No racism, foul language, or spam. The rationale for your comment should be: Would I speak to my mother like this? We reserve the right to reject, edit, or delete comments at our discretion.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.