|
TOKYO, Nov. 28-- The operator of the disaster-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan said Thursday that radioactive rainwater may be leaking into the ground through an exhaust stack. According to Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), rainwater leaving the ducts of one of the crippled plant's 120-meter tall exhaust stacks contains high levels of radioactive materials. The exhaust duct became highly contaminated when an earthquake-triggered tsunami battered the plant in March 2011, knocking out its key cooling systems and leading to core meltdowns and hydrogen explosions, resulting in the worst global nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986. The embattled utility, in a bid to collect and contain the radioactive water, said it has installed a concrete box designed to automatically distribute the water among storage tanks when the concrete box reaches a certain capacity. TEPCO said, however, the concrete box it has installed is leaking, with radioactive water possibly flowing freely into the ground through the holes in the box. The utility said, ostensibly confirming the leak of radioactive water into the ground, that water levels in the concrete box are falling, even when the contaminated rainwater is not being sent to the storage tanks. TEPCO said it has not detected any "major" changes in levels of radioactivity in groundwater surrounding the leaking box and claimed there has been no adverse affects on the environment. | 
