Radiation leaks a global threat

Fukushima risk may take decades to resolve

❝ If it contaminates the ocean, there is no local contamination – the ocean is global.

LETHAL levels of radiation have been detected at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant, seven years after its destruction by an earthquake and tsunami.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), which is responsible for the plant clean-up, made the discovery in a reactor containment vessel last month.

The energy firm found eight sieverts per hour of radiation, and 42 units were also detected outside the plant’s foundations.

A sievert is defined as the probability of cancer induction and genetic damage from exposure to a dose of radiation.

One sievert is thought to carry a 5.5 per cent chance of cancer eventually developing in.

Experts told Japanese state broadcaster NHK World exposure to that volume of radiation for just an hour could kill, and another warned the leaks could lead to a “global” catastrophe if not tackled properly.

It came as Tepco said the problem of contaminated water pooled around the plant’s three reactors and seeping into the ground had caused a major headache in its efforts to decommission the plant.

Thousands of workers have been hired to secure the plant – the scene of the most serious nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986.

Three of its reactors went into a meltdown after an earthquake and tsunami that killed at least 15,000 people.

Tepco has admitted it could be 2020 before the contamination issue is resolved. Only then can it move onto the second stage of removing nuclear debris at the site, including the damaged reactors.

Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit director Richard Black said the high levels of radiation found in and around the reactor last month were “expected” and unlikely to pose a danger.

“Although the radiation levels identified are high, a threat to human health is very unlikely because, apart from workers at the site, no one goes there,” he said.

“What this does demonstrate is that, seven years after the disaster, cleaning up the Fukushima site remains a massive challenge – and one that we’re going to be reading about for decades, never mind years.”

But Mycle Schneider, an independent energy consultant and lead author of the World Nuclear Industry Status Report, said Tepco did not have “a clue” in what it was doing in decommissioning the plant.

He told The Independent the contaminated water leaking at the site could end up in the ocean if the ongoing treatment project failed, causing a “global” disaster.

Mr Schneider said the radiation leaks could have global consequences.

“This is an area of the planet that gets hit by tornadoes and all kinds of heavy weather patterns, which is a problem,” he said.

“When you have waste stored above ground in inappropriate ways, it can get washed out and you can get contamination all over the place ... if it contaminates the ocean, there is no local contamination – the ocean is global.”