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This was the warning given on Monday by Japan's nuclear regulatory body, the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA), describing the radioactive water seeping into the ocean from the crisis-stricken Fukushima nuclear plant.
The emergency shows "why you can't just leave it up to [plant operator] TEPCO alone," Shinji Kinjo, head of an NRA task force, told Reuters.
Kinjo slammed TEPCO, which created a "temporary solution" of an underground barrier to stop water contamination, for having a "sense of crisis [that] is weak." That underground barrier has been breached, allowing the radioactive water to be released, and could accelerate the flow of radioactive discharge from the plant into the ocean.
In July, TEPCO admitted for the first time that contaminated groundwater was leaking from the Fukushima plant into the ocean, and on Sunday gave its first estimate to the public on the amount of radioactive tritium that has leaked into the ocean since the disaster began in March of 2011.
NRA chief Shunichi Tanaka told reporters earlier last month, however, that his agency 'strongly suspected' that Fukushima was leaking radioactivity into the ocean and has been for two years.
Last month, former head of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Dale Klein was among other foreign nuclear experts at a panel in Tokyo blasting TEPCO's handling of the crisis including cover-ups of the extent of the damage. "These actions indicate that you (TEPCO) don't know what you are doing," he said. "You do not have a plan and that you are not doing all you can to protect the environment and the people."
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Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |

This was the warning given on Monday by Japan's nuclear regulatory body, the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA), describing the radioactive water seeping into the ocean from the crisis-stricken Fukushima nuclear plant.
The emergency shows "why you can't just leave it up to [plant operator] TEPCO alone," Shinji Kinjo, head of an NRA task force, told Reuters.
Kinjo slammed TEPCO, which created a "temporary solution" of an underground barrier to stop water contamination, for having a "sense of crisis [that] is weak." That underground barrier has been breached, allowing the radioactive water to be released, and could accelerate the flow of radioactive discharge from the plant into the ocean.
In July, TEPCO admitted for the first time that contaminated groundwater was leaking from the Fukushima plant into the ocean, and on Sunday gave its first estimate to the public on the amount of radioactive tritium that has leaked into the ocean since the disaster began in March of 2011.
NRA chief Shunichi Tanaka told reporters earlier last month, however, that his agency 'strongly suspected' that Fukushima was leaking radioactivity into the ocean and has been for two years.
Last month, former head of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Dale Klein was among other foreign nuclear experts at a panel in Tokyo blasting TEPCO's handling of the crisis including cover-ups of the extent of the damage. "These actions indicate that you (TEPCO) don't know what you are doing," he said. "You do not have a plan and that you are not doing all you can to protect the environment and the people."
_____________________

This was the warning given on Monday by Japan's nuclear regulatory body, the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA), describing the radioactive water seeping into the ocean from the crisis-stricken Fukushima nuclear plant.
The emergency shows "why you can't just leave it up to [plant operator] TEPCO alone," Shinji Kinjo, head of an NRA task force, told Reuters.
Kinjo slammed TEPCO, which created a "temporary solution" of an underground barrier to stop water contamination, for having a "sense of crisis [that] is weak." That underground barrier has been breached, allowing the radioactive water to be released, and could accelerate the flow of radioactive discharge from the plant into the ocean.
In July, TEPCO admitted for the first time that contaminated groundwater was leaking from the Fukushima plant into the ocean, and on Sunday gave its first estimate to the public on the amount of radioactive tritium that has leaked into the ocean since the disaster began in March of 2011.
NRA chief Shunichi Tanaka told reporters earlier last month, however, that his agency 'strongly suspected' that Fukushima was leaking radioactivity into the ocean and has been for two years.
Last month, former head of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Dale Klein was among other foreign nuclear experts at a panel in Tokyo blasting TEPCO's handling of the crisis including cover-ups of the extent of the damage. "These actions indicate that you (TEPCO) don't know what you are doing," he said. "You do not have a plan and that you are not doing all you can to protect the environment and the people."
_____________________