Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Company said on the 8th that the nuclear-contaminated water purification unit at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant leaked about 55 tonnes of water containing radioactive material, possibly caused by human error.
The power operator said that when a staff member was cleaning a cesium adsorption unit on the morning of the 7th, he found that the exhaust port was leaking, and 10 of the 16 valves that were supposed to be manually closed during the cleaning were open.
This is a "No Swimming" sign taken on August 22, 2023 at the Angler Fish Beach in Shinchi-cho, Soma County, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Xiaoyu.
Kyodo News reported, citing TEPCO, that the valve was not closed, causing radioactive water to flow into the exhaust pipe, mixing with the tap water for cleaning. After stopping washing with water, the water leakage also stopped.
TEPCO estimates that the amount of water leaking is as high as 55 tons, possibly containing 22 billion becquerels of cesium, strontium and other radioactive substances. But a spokesman said monitoring of radiation levels around the plant did not reveal "significant changes".
Japan** reported that TEPCO began to ** the soil under the device that was leaking and seeping into the soil as soon as the 8th.
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has repeatedly leaked similar nuclear-contaminated water, and TEPCO's integrity has been questioned.
This is a nuclear sewage storage tank at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan taken on February 13, 2021. Xinhua News Agency, Kyodo News.
In August last year, in disregard of widespread doubts from the international community and strong opposition from relevant countries, Japan forcibly started and continuously promoted the discharge of 1.34 million tons of nuclear-contaminated water accumulated since the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011. The leaking cesesium adsorption device was found on the 7th and was used to treat the nuclear-contaminated water before the "multi-nuclide treatment system" (ALPS) filtered radioactive materials.
In addition, at around 6:30 local time on the 8th, in Tsuruga City, Fukui Prefecture, facing the Sea of Japan, smoke came out of Unit 1 of the Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant, which was undergoing "decommissioning" furnace operations. The operator, Nippon Atomic Power Corporation, said an air conditioning unit at the site had triggered a fire alarm. The fire department found no open flames at the scene.
Japan Atomic Power said the situation was dealt with quickly, no one was injured and no radiation leaked.