Radioactive leak at Ikata plant

November 18, 2014

Radioactive water leak found at Ikata plant

Nov. 18, 2014 - Updated 13:27 UTC+1

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html

Workers at the Ikata nuclear power plant in western Japan have found a radioactive water leak from the facility's wastewater disposal system.

Officials of the plant's host Ehime Prefecture said none of the water leaked outside the site, and that no worker was exposed to it. The plant operated by Shikoku Electric Power Company is offline.

They say workers found traces of leaked water on piping insulation in a building adjacent to the plant's Number 2 reactor on Tuesday.

The piping is part of the disposal system for solidifying concentrated low-level radioactive wastewater by mixing it with asphalt.

They say 34 grams of a dried mixture of boric acid and radioactive cobalt-60 had adhered to the stainless steel piping beneath the insulation. The initial amount of leaked wastewater is unknown.

Officials say the radioactivity level of the mixture was about one-500th the amount requiring a report to the government.

Shikoku Electric says it found no irregularities when workers checked the piping on Saturday.

But the utility says the piping may have been damaged, as it has been used since 1982, when the reactor started operation.