Fukushima Emergency Declared As Radioactive Water Seeps Into Ocean
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Japan’s top nuclear body on Monday warned that highly radioactive water is seeping into the ocean from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, triggering alarm bells over the plant’s precarious state and the plant operator’s ability to control the leak.
In an interview with Reuters, head of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority task force Shinji Kinjo said contaminated groundwater has breached an underground barrier and is rising toward the surface, exceeding legal limits of radioactive discharge.
Japan’s top nuclear body on Monday warned that highly radioactive water is seeping into the ocean from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, triggering alarm bells over the plant’s precarious state and the plant operator’s ability to control the leak.
In an interview with Reuters, head of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority task force Shinji Kinjo said contaminated groundwater has breached an underground barrier and is rising toward the surface, exceeding legal limits of radioactive discharge.
While the NRA has largely concentrated on the safety of restarting Japan’s nuclear reactors – just two of 50 are currently in operation – plant operators Tokyo Electric Power Co are responsible for the Fukushima clean-up.
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But Tepco has been widely criticised for its failure to prepare for the massive 2011 tsunami and earthquake that devastated its Fukushima plant as well as its slow response following the nuclear meltdown.
In the early weeks of the disaster, the Japanese government allowed Tepco to dump tens of thousands of metric tonnes of contaminated water into the Pacific in an emergency move. Tepco tried to prevent groundwater from reaching the plant by building a “bypass” but recent spikes of radioactive elements in sea water has prompted the operator to reverse months of denials and finally admit that tainted water is reaching the sea.
By breaching the barrier, the water can seep through the shallow areas of earth into the nearby sea. Once it reaches the surface, it could start to flow “extremely fast”, said the watchdog, adding that countermeasures planned by Tepco are only a temporary solution.
“If you build a wall, of course the water is going to accumulate there. And there is no other way for the water to go but up or sideways and eventually lead to the ocean,” said Masashi Goto, a retired Toshiba Corp nuclear engineer who worked on several Tepco plants. “So now, the question is how long do we have?”
Contaminated water could rise to the ground’s surface within three weeks, the Asahi newspaper predicted on Saturday.
According to Kinjo, the current situation was more than Tepco could handle, adding that Tepco’s “sense of crisis is weak.”
“Right now, we have an emergency,” he said.
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