Fukushima Springs Big New Toxic Leak

100 tons of radioactive water flow from tank
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 20, 2014 12:36 AM CST
Fukushima Springs Big New Toxic Leak
Workers dismantle a storage tank at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant.   (AP Photo/Kyodo News)

Almost three years after Japan's triple disaster, there has been yet another leak at the Fukushima nuclear plant, seriously shaking public confidence in the ongoing cleanup and containment effort. In the latest leak—the biggest since last August—around 100 metric tons of highly contaminated water overflowed from a tank after an error that was only detected when a worker patrolling the area spotted water coming from a drain, Reuters reports.

Tokyo Electric Power Company says the tainted water is being absorbed into the ground and it is unlikely that any of it will reach the ocean, reports CNN, which notes that the company has long struggled to contain the huge amount of radioactive water at the site. The amount of contaminated water at the devastated plant is growing by 400 tons a day, and Tepco had admitted that it won't be able to complete the purification process this year, even with three units working, Japan News finds. (More Fukushima Daiichi stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X