Japan's nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday that they are highly radioactive water leaking Fukushima nuclear power plant severely, and made a raise to describe its rating from "abnormal", "serious incident."
The plant operator, said contaminated water about 300 tons (300,000 liters, 80,000 gallons) from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi plant leaked hundreds of steel tanks around. Tokyo Electric Power Company have not figured out how or where the water leak, but the suspect did so through a slit in the tank or valve connected to the drains around the tank.
Watchdog, the Nuclear Regulatory Authority weekly Wednesday meeting, proposed to improve the leakage class 3 of the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale eight of the same level one. However, the watchdog planned consultations with the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency, whether it is appropriate to evaluate the use of INES scale, serious damaged Fukushima plant.
Tokyo Electric Power Company said, because the tank is about 100 meters from the shoreline (330 feet), the leakage does not pose a direct threat to the sea. However, Morimoto Hideka, watchdog spokesman said that through the gutter water can reach the sea.
Since last year, the same design as the other four tanks had a similar leak. This event has shaken hundreds of tanks reliability is critical storage has been a steady stream of water contaminated with confidence.
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This Tuesday, August 20, 2013 aerial photo shows the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma in fu ...
"We are very worried," Sen told reporters Wednesday. He urged Tokyo Electric Power Company to quickly determine the cause of the leak and the possible impact of water management plans.
Tokyo Electric Power Company spokesman said Masayuki Ono, leakage of water penetration into the ground, largely escaped pile sandbags added to the concrete barrier around the tank.
Workers were pumped out puddle remaining water in the tank, it would be transferred to another container, in a desperate effort to prevent it from escaping into the sea ahead of forecast rain later in the day around Fukushima. Tuesday afternoon, they have captured only about 4 tons (4,000 liters, 1,000 gallons), Ono said.
Ono said that radiation levels in the water, about 50 centimeters (2 feet) above the puddle, 100 millisieverts per hour - the maximum allowed factory workers more than five years of cumulative exposure.
Plant in March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, suffered disaster-prone - 7 "major accident", INES rating and 1986 the worst since Chernobyl. Build factories around the hundreds of tanks, storing large amounts from the three reactors melted, and run to the basement of the reactor and turbine groundwater contaminated water.
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This year on August 20, 2013 aerial photo shows the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture pre ...
However, contaminated water, Tokyo Electric Power Company has been unable to curb the rate of hundreds of tons a day to continue into the Pacific Ocean. Where a large part of the plant untreated radioactive water mixed with groundwater.
Leakage of water from the tank has been partially treated to remove cesium salts before storage.
Ono said that the latest leak is by far the most serious aspects of steel storage tanks in volume. Former four cases involving only a maximum of 10 liters leak (2.5 gallons).
Tokyo Electric Power Company said the tanks had leaked the purpose of use is to last about five rubber seams. Ono said the Tokyo Electric Power Company plans to build more watertight tank welds, but still must rely on the rubber seams.
Some of about 350 tanks, 1,000 steel plants across the compound, containing part of the treatment of contaminated water nearly 300,000 tons (300 million liters 80 million gallons) of less durable rubber seams.
, "Ono said:" We have no choice but to keep building tanks, or have no place to store contaminated water.
Impact of a large number of radioactive water clean-up process is expected to take several decades one of the most pressing problems.
Reactor water contaminated water is recovered, but its volume increase of 400 tonnes (400,000 liters, 105,000 gallons) of the day, because the water into the ground. Tokyo Electric Power Company's plan to ensure that capacity from 2015 to 800,000 tons (800 million liters 200 million gallons) of water storage facilities.
In order to reduce leakage tanks independent factory workers are using measures such as chemical building underground wall along the shoreline, but they have a little improvement so far.



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