radioactive water treatment unit at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant was shut down on July 13 after a pipe junction snapped.
radioactive water treatment unit at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant was shut down on July 13 after a pipe junction snapped.
Tokyo Electric Power Co., the plant's operator, said on July 14 that about 5 liters of water had leaked following the break.
TEPCO said it was unclear when repairs would be completed.
The leak occurred in a resin pipe junction connecting a hose that injects chemical agents to a pipe in the radioactive water treatment unit, which was manufactured by France's Areva SA.
Repairing the break will require human intervention, but the high radiation levels of 100-150 millisieverts per hour in the surrounding area make it very difficult to get to the machine.
There are two other similar pipe junctions in the unit. One of them was replaced by metal parts after it broke twice on July 10 and July 12. The part that failed in the latest leak was not replaced at that time.
Although the treatment unit has been shut down, TEPCO said that cooling of the Fukushima reactors was continuing using water stored in tanks.