www.nzherald.co.nz
5 Feb 2012
Leaks of radioactive water have become more frequent at Japan's crippled nuclear power plant, less than two months after it was declared stable. It underlines the continuing challenges facing Tokyo Electric Power Co as it tries to keep the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant under control. A massive earthquake and tsunami badly damaged the plant last March, resulting in three reactor cores melting Workers spotted a leak on Friday at a water reprocessing unit, which released enough beta rays to cause radiation sickness, TEPCO spokesman Junichi Matsumoto said.
No one was injured and the leak stopped after bolts were tightened on a tank. He said TEPCO also found that 8.5 tonnes of radioactive water had leaked earlier in the week after a pipe became detached at Unit 4, one of the plant's six reactors. The company earlier had estimated that only a few litres had leaked. Matsumoto said it was unlikely the pipe had been loosened by the many aftershocks that have hit the plant. The structural integrity of the damaged Unit 4 reactor building has long been a major concern among experts. A collapse of its spent-fuel cooling pool could cause a disaster.
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