Breakdown in Fukushima

5.5 tons of radioactive water leaked during a breakdown

(Bild: kameraOne (Screenshot))

Around 5,500 liters of highly radioactive water have leaked from the Fukushima nuclear ruins in Japan following a breakdown during maintenance work. This was reported on Thursday by the public broadcaster NHK.

According to the power plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), the water, some of which may have seeped into the ground, probably contained 220 times the standard amount of radioactive substances that must be reported to the government.

Breakdown during maintenance work
According to Tepco, the leakage of radioactive water was discovered on Wednesday morning. The reason for this was presumably that a valve that was supposed to be closed remained open when workers flushed untreated water out of the filter system during an inspection.

(Bild: kameraOne (Screenshot))

The nuclear power plant operator estimates that around 5.5 tons of water leaked out and that this contained around 22 billion becquerels of caesium-137 and other radioactive substances that emit gamma rays. For comparison: the standard value for reporting to the government is 100 million becquerels.

Contaminated soil to be removed
According to Tepco, no effects on the environment outside the power plant have been detected. However, because the leaked water may have seeped into the ground, the company is now planning to remove the surrounding contaminated soil.

Japan was recently criticized for discharging radioactive water into the sea. At the end of August, the authorities began discharging the Fukushima cooling water into the sea in several stages. In total, more than 1.3 million cubic meters of water from the power plant will be discharged into the sea over decades.

The tsunami caused a meltdown in 2011
The east coast of Japan was hit by a severe earthquake and tsunami in 2011. Around 18,000 people lost their lives in the natural disaster. It also caused the cooling system at the Fukushima nuclear power plant to fail, leading to a meltdown in three of the six reactors.