The Fukushima nuclear site is leaking more highly radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean, AFP reported Sunday, with Tokyo Electric Power. Co. (TEPCO) disclosing “contamination levels up to 70 times greater than the already-high radioactive status” of the plant.
Sensor readings were 50 to 70 times higher than usual at 10 AM local time, fell through the day, but levelled off at 10 to 20 times above the previous threshold.
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A TEPCO spokesperson couldn’t say what caused the radiation spike. “The latest incident, one of several that have plagued the plant in recent months, reflects the difficulty in controlling and decommissioning the plant,” after it was hit by a devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, AFP notes.
“TEPCO has not been able to effectively deal with an increasing amount of contaminated water, used to cool the crippled reactors and molten fuels inside them and kept in large storage tanks on the plant’s vast campus.”
