NRA Sees TEPCO Steps to Combat Water Leaks Ineffective

Tokyo, Oct. 16 (Jiji Press)--Members of the Nuclear Regulation Authority have said that Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s <9501> measures to combat radioactive water leaks from its stricken Fukushima No. 1 power station into the sea have been ineffective. "Our conclusion is that little effect has been seen" in the TEPCO measures, NRA Commissioner Toyoshi Fuketa said at Tuesday's meeting of an NRA panel, citing an increase in the levels of radioactive materials in some seawater samples collected near the northeastern Japan plant damaged by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The company is pumping up groundwater and has injected a water-stopping agent into the ground near the port at the power plant in order to curb the amount of tainted groundwater flowing into the sea. But the levels of cesium-137 in seawater samples collected between the water intakes for the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors inside the port rose to around 100 becquerels per liter this month from around 10 becquerels between late June and early July, according to TEPCO. "It is reasonable to assume that the total amount of radioactive materials flowing into the sea has risen," said Masaya Yasui, an emergency response official at the NRA secretariat. Radioactive water from the damaged reactors "may be leaking directly into the sea instead of mixing with groundwater before making its way into the sea," Fuketa said. Last week, TEPCO said the cesium level was 1.4 becquerels per liter of seawater sampled on Oct. 8 at a point one kilometer from the seawall of the power plant, far below the safety limit of 10 becquerels for drinking water set by the World Health Organization. But radioactive cesium was detected at the point for the first time since the firm started radioactivity checks there in mid-August. END