07/08/2013 10:21
Japan struggles with Fukushima water leaks
Japanese authorities are putting new pressure on the owner of the meltdown-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant after its admission that highly radioactive water from the site has been seeping into groundwater and the harbor off the plant, CNN reported.
A top official said Tuesday that the government wanted the problem solved "as soon as possible," while an official at Japan's nuclear regulatory agency told Reuters on Monday that the issue was an "emergency."
Three reactors melted down at Fukushima Daiichi after the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011. The result was the worst nuclear accident since the Soviet Union's Chernobyl incident in 1986. The meltdown complicated an already historic disaster.
Scientists have pointed to ongoing high radiation levels in the waters off the plant for more than a year to warn of an ongoing leak. The Tokyo Electric Power Company admitted to the problem in July, disclosing that it had found high concentrations of reactor byproducts tritium, cesium-137 and strontium-90 in test wells and in the harbor outside the coastal power plant.