1000 tons of polluted Fukushima water dumped in sea

The operator of the leaking Fukushima nuclear plant said Tuesday that it dumped more than 1,000 tons of polluted water into the sea after a typhoon raked the facility.

japan_typhoon_manyi_getty.jpg

Muddy water of the Katsura river runs under a bridge in Kyoto as torrential rain hit western Japan. (AAP)

The operator of the leaking Fukushima nuclear plant said Tuesday that it dumped more than 1,000 tons of polluted water into the sea after a typhoon raked the facility.
   
Typhoon Man-yi smashed into Japan on Monday, bringing with it heavy rain that caused flooding in some parts of the country, including the ancient city of Kyoto.
   
The rain also lashed near the broken plant run by Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), swamping enclosure walls around clusters of water tanks containing toxic water that was used to cool broken reactors.
   
Some of the tanks were earlier found to be leaking contaminated water.
   
"Workers measured the radioactive levels of the water collected in the enclosure walls, pumping it back into tanks when the levels were high," said a TEPCO official.
   
"Once finding it was mostly rain water they released it from the enclosure, because there is a limit on how much water we can store."
   
The utility said about 1,130 tons of water with low levels of radiation -- below the 30 becquerels of strontium per litre safety limit imposed by Japanese authorities -- were released into the ground.
   
But the company also said at one site where water was found contaminated beyond the safety limit workers could not start the water pump quick enough in the torrential rain, and toxic water had leaked from the enclosure for several minutes.
   
Strontium is a potentially cancer-causing substance that accumulates in bones if consumed.
   
Thousands of tonnes of water that was poured on the reactors to tame meltdowns is being stored in temporary tanks at the plant, and TEPCO has so far revealed no clear plan for it.
   
The problem has been worsened by leaks in some of those tanks that are believed to have seeped into groundwater and run out to sea.
   
Separately, around 300 tonnes of mildly contaminated groundwater is entering the ocean every day having passed under the reactors, TEPCO says.


Share
2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AFP

Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world
1000 tons of polluted Fukushima water dumped in sea | SBS News