The officials at the Fukushima nuclear plant said that they noticed increased readings of tritium in groundwater close to tanks which are holding hundreds of tons of contaminated water at the site. The Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said that tritium levels in water – which is taken from a well close to a number of storage holding the irradiated water – increased to 97,000 becquerels per liter.
This is an increase from 64,000 becquerels per liter measured at the same location just one day earlier. The beta readings of groundwater at the same location have declined slightly, to 1,500 becquerels per liter on September 12, 2013, from an earlier measurement of 2,000 becquerels per liter. The recent increased readings at the plant come after the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his government are trying their best to reassure the international community that the Fukushima facility – which is 230 km from Tokyo – is under control.
In August 2013, TEPCO said that 300 tons of highly radioactive water leaked from one of the steel tanks at the plant, which was crippled by a strong earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. The leak also followed a previous statement by the company that hundreds of tonnes of contaminated water was flowing out of the plant into the ocean.
Photo Credits: Fukushima Update
