Radioactive ditch water spilled into sea

March 5, 2015

Fukushima plant ditch water found radioactive

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

Mar. 5, 2015 - Updated 20:58 UTC+1

The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has found relatively high levels of radioactivity in water collected from a ditch in the upper part of a drainage channel at the complex.

Tokyo Electric Power Company says its workers discovered that the water collected on Tuesday contained 1,900 becquerels per liter of beta-particle-emitting substances.

The utility's officials suspect water from the ditch spilled into the sea through the drainage channel.

The ditch runs near a tank storing highly radioactive water. TEPCO workers have checked the tank, but found no evidence of a leak. But they are still investigating the possibility of a leak of contaminated water from the tank to the ditch.
Last month, the density of radioactive substances in the lower portion of the drainage channel briefly soared to more than 10 times the normal figure.

The firm also recently revealed that tainted rainwater flowed from the roof of a reactor building into the sea via another drainage channel.