Nuclear Regulators Declare Fukushima Leak A Level-Three ‘Serious Incident’

By Agence France-Presse
Friday, August 23, 2013 16:41 EDT

Nuclear watchdog inspectors who toured Japan’s crippled Fukushima plant following the discovery of a huge radioactive leak declared Friday that water storage at the site was “sloppy”.

Earlier this week around 300 tonnes of radioactive liquid is believed to have escaped from one of the hundreds of tanks holding liquid used to cool the broken reactors, in an episode dubbed the most serious in nearly two years.

“I can’t help but say it was sloppy,” said Nuclear Regulation Authority committee member Toyoshi Fuketa of Tokyo Electric Power Company’s (TEPCO’s) management of contaminated water, according to Jiji Press.

Fuketa was part of a 15-member team, including experts on radiation and water flow, who visited the wrecked power station to see for themselves how the polluted water had escaped.

The one-day inspection finished late Friday, an agency official told AFP. “We will analyse results of the inspection and discuss them at a working group next week,” the official said. “We may carry out further on-site inspections if necessary.”

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