A nuclear plant in southwestern
Japan leaked 1.8 tonnes of radioactive water from
its cooling system, but did not escape into the environment, the government said
Saturday. The government also said, heightening safety worries as
an atomic crisis continues at another plant.
The leak Friday at Kyushu Electric Power Co.’s Genkai plant
occurred as Japan continues its attempts to stabilize a tsunami-hit
nuclear plant on its northeastern coast where three reactor cores melted
and large amounts of radiation were released into the air and ocean.
Workers are still scrambling to contain a separate ongoing crisis at
the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, triggered by the March earthquake and
tsunami that hit northeastern Japan. The operator of the Genkai
plant, Kyushu Electric Power, said Friday that one of the water pumps
connected to its number three reactor was taken offline after it sounded
an alarm for increasing temperature. But the utility did not
announce leaked water at that time. The water kept around the pump and
was later collected, said an official with the Nuclear and Industry
Safety Agency. The utility was not legally required to report the
water leak, but the mayor of the small Genkai town hosting the plant
voiced concerns.
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