TEPCO groundwater dumping plans face new set back

Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) has found that the groundwater surrounding the damaged No.1 nuclear power station in Fukushima is contaminated with radioactive caesium. This comes after the company's decision to pump the excess groundwater into the ocean, following testing that said the contamination in the water was negligible.

TEPCO had faced tough opposition from the area's fishing community after the announcement of plans to dump groundwater into the sea in an effort to stop it flooding the plant's damaged reactor. The company had performed testing on groundwater stored at the facility that suggested that the radiation levels were no more than those found in the area's streams and rivers.

Despite previous statements about the groundwater contamination, TEPCO has now admitted that the influence of background radiation found within the groundwater at the facility was miscalculated when it was measured in mid-April. The company has said that at the time of the testing the results found that the radiation levels were negligible.

The most recent testing on the stored groundwater has found a level of caesium, measuring 0.61 becquerel per litre, according to TEPCO officials. The level is lower than the standards suggest is allowed for dumping the water into the sea, but the local fishing industry - that had yet to agree to the plan - has renewed its objections.

TEPCO has now been ordered by the Fukushima prefectural government to take more thorough measurements of the groundwater currently stored at the nuclear plant in an effort to fully understand the exact levels of radiation.     

Atsushi Kasai, former researcher of radiation protection at the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, said: "Once again, they've missed something they should be aware of. This shows again they lack the qualification to be managing the plant, which is the root cause of their failure to contain the March 11th disaster."