TEPCO Apologizes For Radioactive Water Leak At Fukushima

The operator of the disaster-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has apologized to the local government for a radioactive water leak from a building on the premises, as reported by Kyodo News.

TEPCO said the latest incident has not affected the environment outside the plant. I Photo: TEPCO

Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings Inc. said 5.5 tons leaked from an outlet connected to a device to treat contaminated water, which is accumulating at the complex that suffered reactor fuel meltdowns in the wake of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster.

TEPCO said the latest incident has not affected the environment outside the plant.

"We made people in Fukushima Prefecture, and broadly people in society anxious," Tatsuya Taminami, the head of the plant, said in apology as he met with prefectural officials.

The prefecture asked for steps to prevent such leaks from happening again. The leak was noticed on Wednesday morning and occurred while washing the water treatment device located inside an incinerator building.

The 5.5 tons of water, estimated to have contained 22 billion becquerels of radioactive substances, is believed to have partially seeped into the ground, and TEPCO plans to remove the potentially affected soil.

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