A nuclear expert from the United States, brought in to offer advice about the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, has said leaks of radioactive water into the sea are not a major concern.
It is believed about 300 tonnes of contaminated water is seeping into the ocean every day from the crippled nuclear plant north of the Japanese capital, Tokyo.
Responding to criticism over its handling of leaks at Fukushima, the plant’s operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) brought in expert Lake Barrett, who spent several years dealing with the Three Mile island nuclear accident in the US.
The French newsagency AFP reports Mr Barrett has just completed his first tour of the shattered Fukushima complex.
AFP reports that Tokyo after inspecting the site, he said the leaks were being managed but TEPCO needed to better explain what is going on at the plant to the Japanese public.
“This is not finished,” he said.
“But I don’t believe there’s anything of major concern and they do have an adequate leak control system there but it needs to be better addressed.
“It needs to be explained much better than it’s been explained.”
AFP reports while Mr Barrett acknowledged contaminated groundwater is leaking into the ocean, he says it is not a threat.
“The levels that are ‘moving’ are very small and very low risk and you know water flows towards the sea so where’s it going? It goes towards the sea,” he said.
“But as far as any radioactivity of concern, in my opinion, it is being adequately controlled.”
Earlier a controversial opinion piece written by Mr Barrett was published on a website for atomic scientists.
Mr Barrett wrote that it is likely the radioactive water being stored at Fukushima will have to be dumped into the ocean after contamination within that water is brought back to safe levels.
ABC News reports the article has not been well received by Japanese people, particularly the fishermen who have been banned from commercial fishing in the Fukushima area following the discovery of the leaks.
Meanwhile, TEPCO said that vapour has again begun rising from a reactor at the plant, more than two-and-a-half years after its core melted down.
It believed the steam was coming from a puddle sitting atop the reactor, but has not been able to clarify why vapour started appearing occasionally from July this year.
TEPCO said the plant remained stable, with sensors in and around it showing no increase in levels of radioactive release.
Thousands of tonnes of water were poured on the reactors to tame the meltdowns sparked by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
The Japanese government has decided to spend $470 million on a scheme to freeze the soil around the reactors to form an impenetrable wall of ice they hope will direct groundwater away from them.
