Another suspected leak of radioactive water was discovered at Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station on Tuesday, its operator said, the latest in a series of problems at the plant.
Contaminated water may have leaked into the ground from an underground reservoir at the tsunami-damaged facility, following similar leaks at two others during the weekend, Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) said.
Tepco insisted that the radioactive water was unlikely to flow into the sea.
The reservoir, which is enclosed, stores water that has been used to cool down the reactors after caesium is removed but while other radioactive substances remain.
The leaks came after two power failures on the systems which keep spent atomic fuel cool at the plant. The first, which knocked out some equipment for nearly 30 hours, was caused by a rat that had got into the electrics.