Japan dumps contaminated water into Pacific
In a bid to free up storage space for even more highly radioactive water that has hampered efforts to stabilize the reactors, the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said it would have to get rid of less toxic water.
A total of 15,000 tons of water containing radioactive materials was set to be released, including contaminated groundwater from near No. 5 and No. 6 reactors, TEPCO said.
The level of radioactive substances in the water is up to 500 times the legal limit permitted for release in the environment, the Kyodo news agency reported.
TEPCO has revealed that radioactive iodine-131 more than 10,000 times the legal concentration limit was detected in the water found in the pit.
The water had been left in several parts of the plant, preventing workers from handling problems there.
Japan's Nuclear Industrial Safety Agency authorized the dumping as an emergency measure and said the disposal would pose "no major health risk."
The government warned that it could take several months to get the leak under control. Workers have begun putting dye in the water to find the location of other possible leaks at the plant.
Experts say that while the radioactive materials are likely to be diluted in the sea, it remains uncertain how the marine environment will be affected when considering the impact of highly radioactive water already leaked into the sea.
Contamination from the plant has been found in the air, ground, seawater and in regional produce including vegetables, dairy products, beef and mushrooms.
Meanwhile, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Yukiya Amano stressed the need to review nuclear power in his opening speech at the the Convention on Nuclear Safety's 5th review meeting in Vienna.
"The situation at Fukushima Daiichi remains very serious. The immediate priority is to overcome the crisis and stabilize the reactors, but we must also begin the process of reflection and evaluation," said Amano. Kazinform cites Xinhua. See www.xinhuanet.com for full version