TOKYO, (PNA/Kyodo) — Highly radioactive water leaked from a desalination facility Wednesday at the severely damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant but did not reach the sea, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said.
Workers accidentally disconnected a pipe to the facility and caused the leak that continued for over 50 minutes in the morning, it said, adding that six of the 11 workers were found to have come into contact with radioactive substances. They were likely covered with the tainted water, the Nuclear Regulation Authority said.
About 10 tons of water may have leaked, the utility said, noting the pipe contained some 37 million becquerels per liter of radioactive substances that emit beta rays such as strontium-90 in a reading in August, against the legal limit of 30 becquerels for strontium-90.