Tokyo Electric Power Co said 47 tons (12,500 gallons) more water may escape a storage pool at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant through a leak that has been followed by another, smaller release of toxic water at a nearby tank.
Yesterday, the company known as Tepco, estimated about 120 tons of radioactive water had already escaped the No. 2 underground pool. As much as 3 liters (0.79 gallons) of radioactive water may have also escaped the No. 3 pool, Koji Sakakibara, a Tokyo-based spokesman at the utility, said today.
The leaks have been found in the pools where highly contaminated water is stored after being used to cool the damaged reactors at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant. The leaks are the latest stumble in efforts to stabilize the plant after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that caused the worst nuclear crisis in 25 years.
Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority yesterday identified the possibility of the second leak. Tepco plans to transfer some of the contaminated water from the No. 3 tank to determine whether the leak stops, Sakakibara said.
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