Japan: radioactive source contaminating sea not clear

[News_Editor]

Japan: radioactive source contaminating sea not clear

2011-04-04 19:10:47 GMT+7 (ICT)

TOKYO (BNO NEWS) -- Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) on Monday used colored powder in an effort to locate the source of highly radioactive water leaking into the sea, officials said.

In its struggle to find the source, the plant operator poured 13 kilograms (28.6 pounds) of the powder into an underground trench that connects to the Pacific Ocean at around 7 a.m. local time, as the leakage from a cracked seaside pit connected to Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant's No. 2 reactor turbine building, Kyodo news agency reported.

The basement of the reactor turbine building, which is connected to the tunnel-like trench, has been filling with radioactive water.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano underlined the necessity of preventing radioactive water from further spreading in the sea as soon as possible, as a larger impact would develop if the contamination continued leaking into the Pacific.

Meanwhile, Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for the government's nuclear safety agency said Tepco is considering installing 'silt fence' barriers in areas where radioactive water is suspected to be flowing into the sea in an additional effort to contain the contaminated water. However, the process would take several days of work.

According to Tepco, radioactive iodine-131more than 10,000 times the legal concentration limit was detected in the water found in the pit.

Parts of northeastern Japan were devastated by an enormous 9.0-magnitude earthquake off its coast on March 11, generating a large tsunami that struck nearby coastlines and caused the ongoing nuclear crisis.

As of Friday, the disaster's death toll stood at 11,734 in 12 prefectures while the number of reported missing people totaled 16,375 in six prefectures. Many of the unaccounted people are believed to have been carried offshore after the tsunami.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-04-04