Japan’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority says the country’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is leaking contaminated water into the nearby Pacific Ocean.\n<\/p>\n
Shinji Kinjo, head of a Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) said on Monday that radioactive groundwater at the damaged facility had risen above a barrier installed to contain it. This means the toxic water is likely flowing into the sea.\n<\/p>\n
“Right now, we have an emergency,” he added.\n<\/p>\n
The regulatory watchdog has accused the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, of neglecting the issue.\n<\/p>\n
“TEPCO’s sense of crisis is weak,” Kinjo said, adding, “This is why you can’t just leave it up to TEPCO alone to grapple with the ongoing disaster.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
However, TEPCO says it has taken various measures to stop the leakage. <\/p>\n
The Fukushima plant was destroyed in a mega earthquake followed by a tsunami on March 11, 2011. At that time, the Japanese government allowed TEPCO to dump thousands of tons of radioactive water into the sea in an emergency move.\n<\/p>\n
The developments come as a Japanese parliamentary panel has found that the incident at the Fukushima nuclear plant had been a \u00c5\u201cman-made disaster\u201d and not only a result of the tsunami. The report criticized \u00c5\u201cgovernments, regulatory authorities and Tokyo Electric Power\u201d for being devoid of \u00c5\u201ca sense of responsibility to protect people\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s lives and society.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
JR\/SS<\/p>\n