Fukushima Nuclear Plant Leaks Untreated Radioactive Liquids

A red alert has been issued in Japan following the horrific discovery in recent days by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), operator of the disastrous Fukushima nuclear power plant. In an official statement released Wednesday, February 7, TEPCO wrote that “personnel, involved in remediation and safety work at the power plant,” which was severely damaged in 2011 after an earthquake and tsunami, “discovered a leak of untreated radioactive water from the power plant’s filtration system.”

The operator of the Fukushima NPP estimated the losses at 5-6 tons of highly radioactive water with radioactive concentrations up to 220 times higher than normal. Contaminated water may have seeped into the ground, and it is unclear how far underground currents can carry liquids that represent a deadly mixture of radioactive isotopes. The investigation is ongoing, but TEPCO has already said that the leak was not due to burst pipes, but because “a valve was left open after a routine inspection.”

On January 20, TEPCO resumed operations to dump radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean. More than 56,000 tons of decontaminated water will have to be discharged by the end of March 2025, and 1.25 million tons of treated liquids will have to be diluted in ocean waters in an operation heavily criticized by the international community.