Japan nuclear operator suspects new radioactive leak into sea - From No. 3 reactor

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/11/us-japan-nuclear-tepco-idUSTRE74A1GQ20110511

TOKYO | Wed May 11, 2011 4:42am EDT

TOKYO (Reuters) - The operator of Japan's tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear station said on Wednesday it may have found a new leak of radioactive water into the ocean from the plant, this time from the No.3 reactor.

[robdogbucky]

1. Indeed it is leaking

Radioactive water found in No.3 reactor pit

Tokyo Electric Power Company says water containing radioactive material has been found flowing into a pit outside of the No.3 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The flow was confirmed on Wednesday afternoon at a pit linked to a utility tunnel near the reactor's water intake.

Workers could not confirm whether the water was leaking out into the sea, but they reported seeing froth near the water intake.
TEPCO says the concentration of radioactive Cesium in water sampled from the pit was 620,000 times higher than the safety limit set by the government. The utility also says it detected 1.5 milli-sieverts per hour of radiation on the surface of water in the pit, which indicates contaminated water may be leaking into the sea.

TEPCO is investigating the make-up of the water and considering burying the pit to stop possible leakage. On April 2nd, the utility confirmed that highly radioactive wastewater was leaking into the sea from a crack in a pit outside the No.2 reactor.

That leak was stopped 4 days later, after workers sealed the crack with a special chemical known as liquid glass. But in the meantime, nearby seawater was polluted by radiation.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011 19:02 +0900 (JST)


http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/11_29.html