TEPCO confirms highly radioactive water spread underground
September 06, 2013

By SHUNSUKE KIMURA/ Staff Writer

Highly radioactive water that leaked from a storage tank and was not discovered until last month is spreading underground at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Sept. 5.

The utility said 650 becquerels per liter of radioactive materials, which emit beta rays such as radioactive strontium, were found in water samples from an observation well near the tank, from which an estimated 300 tons of highly radioactive water were found to have leaked.

Strontium is believed to accumulate in bones in humans and can cause bone cancer and leukemia....

...Although much of the contaminated water has apparently seeped into the soil and combined with groundwater, TEPCO's latest findings from the well are the first time the utility has confirmed that leaking water is spreading underground.

After the latest water leakage issue was exposed...