Radioactive level up 17 times in groundwater at Fukushima

TOKYO, April 15 (Itar-Tass) -- Radioactive underwater concentrations
in No. 2 reactor at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant
have increased 17 times in one week, the Japanese nuclear safety agency
said on Friday.
Experts believe the reason is an ongoing leak of contaminated water
from the turbine room of the crippled reactor.
A total of around 60,000 tons of contaminated water is believed to be
flooding the basements of the Nos. 1 to 3 reactor turbine buildings as
well as trenches connected to them, and the water is hampering work to
restore the cooling functions of the reactors lost since the March 11
earthquake and ensuing tsunami.
The plant operator continues to grapple with pools of highly
radioactive water found on the plant's premises, with the level of
polluted water filling an underground trench edging up again after the
company finished pumping out around 660 tons of water.