Radioactive Fukushima water 'leaking into ocean'
Japan’s nuclear regulator says radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima power plant is probably leaking into the Pacific Ocean, a problem long suspected by experts but denied by the plant’s operator.
The stricken nuclear power plant at Fukushima has probably been leaking contaminated water into the ocean for two years, ever since an earthquake and tsunami badly damaged the plant, Japan's chief nuclear regulator said.
In unusually candid comments on Wednesday, Shunichi Tanaka, the head of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, also said that neither his staff nor the plant's operator knew exactly where the leaks were coming from, or how to stop them.
The operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), has reported sharp increases in the amounts of radioactive caesium, tritium and strontium detected in groundwater at the plant, adding urgency to the task of sealing any leaks.
Radioactive caesium and strontium, especially, are known to raise risks of cancer in humans.
Tanaka's comments highlight the precariousness of the clean-up at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, where core meltdowns occurred at three of the six reactors.
A critical problem has been the groundwater that has been pouring into the basements of the damaged reactor buildings and becoming contaminated.