Nuclear Event - Kan Admits Failure to Address Nuclear Problems as Another Plant Leaks in JAPAN - 2nd May 2011

TOYKO, Japan, May 2, 2011 (ENS) - Radioactive substances may be leaking from fuel rods at a nuclear power plant in Tsuruga, the Fukui prefectural government said Monday, noting a rise in the level of radioactive substances in the reactor's coolant water.

Japan Atomic Power Co., the utility firm that operates the Tsuruga nuclear plant on the Sea of Japan coast, acknowledged "technical difficulties" at the Unit 2 reactor and confirmed a possible leak of radioactive iodine from the reactor's nuclear fuel rods into the coolant system.

The company said Monday that 4.2 becquerels of iodine-133 and 3,900 becquerels of xenon gas were detected per cubic centimeter of coolant water, up from 2.1 of iodine-133 and 5.2 becquerels of xenon gas measured during tests conducted April 26.

The company said it will manually shut down the Unit 2 reactor and examine its cooling system.

The prefectural government denied that the levels of radioactive substances could threaten the surrounding environment.

Tsuruga is one of the 15 nuclear reactors around Wakasa Bay on the west coast of Honshu island, the largest concentration of nuclear power plants in the world.

Tsuruga is not in the region devastated by the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami on March 11 that damaged Tokyo Electric Power Company's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on Honshu island's Pacific coast. Read More