Twelve tons of radioactive water from Fukushima Leaked to the Pacific

The operating company TEPCO confirmed the leakage of fluid contaminated with strontium. The company had reported a similar incident occurred last March 26.

On Thursday, employees of Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) discovered contaminated liquid filtration from a pipe connected to the tank which stores the radioactive water used to cool the reactors.

The accumulation of thousands of tons of contaminated water leaked from the reactor into the premises of the plant is one of the main problems facing TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi, forcing the company to continuously store the filtrate in special containers.

TEPCO operators proceeded to close the valves on the pipeline, which stopped the leak of radioactive water about an hour later, NHK explained.

The operator confirmed that Fukushima is estimated that a significant portion of the 12 tons of water contaminated with strontium highly radioactive had leaked into the Pacific Ocean through a drainage ditch that connects the plant to the sea.

In addition, on March 26, TEPCO also reported a leak in the water circulation system of units 1, 2 and 3 of the plant, which caused about 80 gallons of water contaminated with strontium leaked into the ocean.

To reduce potential releases and their consequences in the sea, TEPCO announced last February with cement covering the seabed around the plant to prevent the spread of radioactive substances.

With this operation, the power is intended to cover the seabed to 6 meters deep with a 60 cm layer of cement to prevent the contaminated mud and sand around the plant to expand during a period of approximately 50 years.

Since the beginning of the nuclear crisis, after the earthquake of March 11, the authorities conduct tests to analyze the impact of the accident on marine life near the plant, since it is estimated that between 21 March and 30 April the plant could pour into the sea about 15 thousand terabecquereles: TBq (terabecquerel, 1012 Bq) of cesium and radioactive iodine.

The accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, the worst since Chernobyl, has led to the evacuation of about 80 000 people and has severely affected agriculture, livestock and local fishing.