Radioactive water leak
Source: Agencies |
December 11, 2011, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
RADIOACTIVE water leaked inside a nuclear power plant in southwestern Japan but did not escape into the environment, the government said yesterday, the latest problem for the country's nuclear industry amid an ongoing crisis at another plant.
The leak on Friday at Kyushu Electric Power Co's Genkai plant occurred as Japan works to stabilize a tsunami-hit nuclear plant on its northeastern coast where three reactor cores melted and radiation was released into the air and ocean.
Tetsuya Saito, spokesman for Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, said 1.8 tons of radioactive water leaked from a pump in Genkai's No. 3 reactor, and the cause was still under investigation.
The water was funneled into a storage area and posed no safety risk, he said.
Kyushu Electric issued a statement on Friday about a pump problem but did not mention the leak. Officials at the utility were not available for comment yesterday.
"There have been various problems at Genkai," Saito said. "But there is no safety problem as a result of what happened this time."
Genkai Mayor Hideo Kishimoto complained that Kyushu Electric has not been fully open with information.
"The local government needs to know," Kyodo News agency quoted him as saying. "I have repeatedly demanded the utility change its ways."
Last month, Kyushu Electric restarted Genkai's No. 4 reactor after it automatically shut down following an abnormality in a steam condenser that did not cause any radiation leaks or injuries. The No. 3 reactor was halted for a routine inspection when the pump problem developed.
The leak on Friday at Kyushu Electric Power Co's Genkai plant occurred as Japan works to stabilize a tsunami-hit nuclear plant on its northeastern coast where three reactor cores melted and radiation was released into the air and ocean.
Tetsuya Saito, spokesman for Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, said 1.8 tons of radioactive water leaked from a pump in Genkai's No. 3 reactor, and the cause was still under investigation.
The water was funneled into a storage area and posed no safety risk, he said.
Kyushu Electric issued a statement on Friday about a pump problem but did not mention the leak. Officials at the utility were not available for comment yesterday.
"There have been various problems at Genkai," Saito said. "But there is no safety problem as a result of what happened this time."
Genkai Mayor Hideo Kishimoto complained that Kyushu Electric has not been fully open with information.
"The local government needs to know," Kyodo News agency quoted him as saying. "I have repeatedly demanded the utility change its ways."
Last month, Kyushu Electric restarted Genkai's No. 4 reactor after it automatically shut down following an abnormality in a steam condenser that did not cause any radiation leaks or injuries. The No. 3 reactor was halted for a routine inspection when the pump problem developed.
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