Water leaks from purification equipment at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

 According to NHK, in a press conference on Thursday the 15th , TEPCO stated that there are 16 valves in the pipes of the treated water purification system at the Fukushima nuclear power plant that should normally be closed, but 10 of these are left open. It became clear that the on-site workers had overlooked this. The company also said that the problem was that the procedure manual did not specify that the valve should be closed, and that measures will be taken to prevent it from happening again. Initially, it was estimated that the amount of water that leaked was approximately 5.5 tons, containing approximately 22 billion becquerels of radioactive materials such as cesium-137. Both figures have been revised downward to approximately 6.6 billion becquerels. On the other hand, TEPCO said that it had finished collecting the water-soaked soil on the 12th of this month, but when the soil under the concrete-paved ground was examined, it was found that the concentration was up to 7 millisieverts per hour before the trouble occurred. The company announced that it would additionally collect this soil as the radiation level was measured to be significantly higher than the level of 0.02 mSv. On the 7th of this month, water containing radioactive substances leaked from a contaminated water purification system at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant , and TEPCO is interviewing workers about the situation at the time and investigating the cause of the trouble.