Groundwater radiation spikes at crippled Fukushima

TOKYO – Groundwater radiation levels at Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant have soared near a tank that leaked 300 tonnes of toxic water in August, struggling operator Tokyo Electric Power said.

TEPCO said water samples collected from a well on Thursday contained  400,000 becquerels per litre of beta-ray emitting substances, the highest  reading since the nuclear accident was triggered in March 2011.

Samples in previous days had been showing levels of just 60 to 90  becquerels per litre.

The reading for radioactive tritium also shot up to a record high of  790,000 becquerels, TEPCO said.

The leaking storage tank was discovered in August and TEPCO said measures  taken since then had included transferring water from the tank and removing the  surrounding soil.

“Other wells are not showing such a high level. We need to take additional  measures for the areas around this well,” Masayuki Ono, TEPCO spokesman, told a  press conference on Friday evening.

TEPCO has removed most of the soil contaminated by the August spill, but  might have failed to collect some radioactive materials, Ono said. — AFP