Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said a leak of radioactive water was discovered late on Wednesday at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The leak was comprised of an estimated 100 metric tons of highly contaminated water, according to a report by CNN.
The tainted water was absorbed into the ground after it flowed over a barrier surrounding a storage tank. The leak is the first reported spill at the plant in 2014, following several leaks in 2013. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was originally damaged during a March 2011 earthquake and tsunami off the northeastern coast of Japan.
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The company said it does not believe the leak spilled into the nearby Pacific Ocean, but is being absorbed into the ground. TEPCO did not indicate whether the leak is affecting groundwater in the area.
Last week, Reuters reported that TEPCO had knowledge of record-high measurements of a dangerous isotope in groundwater at the plant for five months before telling the country's nuclear watchdog. Reuters reported TEPCO detected 5 million becquerels per liter of radioactive strontium-90 in a sample from a groundwater well about 25 meters from the Pacific Ocean in September 2013.A TEPCO spokesman said there was uncertainty about the reliability and accuracy of the September strontium reading, so the utility decided to re-examine the data.
For the full CNN report on this story, go here.
For the full Reuters report on groundwater at the Fukushima Daiichi, go here.
