Radioactive water leakage from the Fukushima Daiichi Plant in Japan
5 workers used a radioactive material to overturn a liquid
An unexpected accident has occurred at Japan’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
While cleaning the piping of the multi-nuclide removal equipment (ALPS), contaminated water leaked, dousing workers with a liquid containing radioactive material.
Contaminated water discharge facility inside Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. File photo from EPA Yonhap News /EPA=Yonhap News
According to local media outlets such as the Japanese public broadcaster NHK, the accident occurred around 10:30 a.m. (local time) on the 25th.
At that time, five workers from a subcontractor of Tokyo Electric Power Company (the operator of the nuclear power plant) were pouring nitric acid for cleaning into the ALPS piping at the Fukushima No. 1 plant when, suddenly, contaminated liquid gushed out of the pipe. The leaked liquid was about 100 ml (approximately 3.4 oz), known to contain radioactive material.
Tokyo Electric Power Company said, “It is presumed that the liquid flowed around when the hose fell off from a gas-filled tank,” and “it did not leak outside.”
It also conveyed, “All five workers were doused with the liquid, but since they were all wearing full-body protective suits and full-face masks, the radioactive material did not directly absorb them.”
However, it was reported that, excluding one person, the liquid seeped into the protective suits of the other four, touching their skin. Immediate measures were taken to wash it off with water. Still, after measuring the surface radiation dose of their bodies, two of them, who showed higher radiation levels than a certain standard for over nine hours, were reportedly transferred to the hospital. The other two completed decontamination —the spot.
Tokyo Electric Power Company explained about the two workers who were transferred to the hospital, “According to the doctor’s diagnosis, it seems that there are no acute disabilities due to radiation.”
Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. Tokyo Electric Power Company officials are working on discharging contaminated water. File photo from AFP Yonhap News/ AFP=Yonhap News·Tokyo Electric Power Company
Sankei Shimbun reported that decontamination work and an investigation into external radiation exposure are currently being conducted about this accident.
It was reported that an alarm sounded, indicating that the radiation dose exceeded the standard of 5 mSv (millisieverts) when the mask of one worker was contaminated with radioactive material at the time of the accident.
Tokyo Electric Power Company also stated, “We are determining the detailed radiation dose, etc.,” confirming the possibility of radiation exposure.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The photo shows him during his visit to Korea in May / News1
Approximately 12 years after the Fukushima nuclear accident caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company started discharging contaminated water stored in tanks within the premises of the No. 1 plant into the ocean this year.
The contaminated water stored at the nuclear power plant passes through the ALPS, is mixed with seawater (tritium dilution operation), and flows out to the sea in front of the nuclear power plant through a seabed tunnel about 1 km (approximately 0.62 miles) long. A total of 1.34 million tons of contaminated water is expected to be discharged into the sea over a minimum of 30 to 40 years.
Tokyo Electric Power Company conducted the first discharge (7,788 tons) on August 24, followed by the second discharge (7,810 tons) on the 23rd of this month. It plans to proceed with the discharge operation twice by March next year.
By. Kim Hye Min
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