An estimated 225 tons of radioactive rainwater likely leaked from cracks in the barriers surrounding storage tanks at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, seeping into the surrounding soil, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Dec. 24.
An estimated 225 tons of radioactive rainwater likely leaked from cracks in the barriers surrounding storage tanks at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, seeping into the surrounding soil, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Dec. 24.
The utility said this appears to be the largest amount of radioactive rainwater escaping to date from the barriers around tanks holding contaminated water.
TEPCO plans to apply nonpermeable resin on the inside of the barriers to block future leaks.
The company said water levels inside the barriers of the H4 and H4-East storage areas dropped over four days through Dec. 24.
The water level at the H4-East area fell from 12 centimeters to 1 cm, suggesting a leak of 109 tons. The level at the H4 area dropped from 12 cm to 5 cm, indicating a leak of up to 116 tons.
A reading of 440 becquerels of radioactive strontium per liter was detected Dec. 20 in water in the barriers at the H4-East area. The reading at the H4 area was 20 becquerels per liter. Both figures exceeded TEPCO’s provisional limit of less than 10 becquerels for releasing contaminated water.
The figures indicate that the rainwater has been contaminated by absorbing radioactive substances from the surface of the soil.