Hong Kong authorities voice concern over radioactive water leak at Fukushima; Japanese consulate says spill limited to surrounding soil
- About 5.5 cubic metres of water has flowed out of pipe, Japanese consulate in Hong Kong says
- Hong Kong government says it is ‘very concerned’ about leakage
The Japanese consulate in Hong Kong said it was aware of the leak from a pipe on the wall of a building housing equipment for purifying the contaminated water at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, operated by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco).
“We are informed that the amount of water leaked is conservatively assessed by Tepco to be approximately 5.5 cubic metres,” its spokesman said in a reply to the Post on Wednesday.
“The leakage is confined to the surrounding soil, and there has been no change in the concentration of radioactive substances in nearby drainage channels or monitoring posts, and no external impact has been confirmed at this moment.”
It added Tepco would continue to confirm the details and that the consulate would adopt measures to ensure safety.
The Hong Kong government earlier on Wednesday said it was “very concerned” over the reports about the leak and had asked the consulate to verify the details and provide more information.
“The government will continue to closely follow up [on] the incident with the [consulate] with the view to [safeguard] food safety and public health in Hong Kong,” a spokesman said.
Tepco reportedly said at 8.53am on Wednesday that workers discovered a leak at an exhaust vent on the outer wall of a building at the power plant used to release hydrogen produced by waste water purification equipment.
The purification equipment was reported to be turned off at that time and was filling the pipe with clean water to remove dirt to prepare for an inspection. But a valve that was supposed to be closed was opened, allowing the waste water and residual water from the pipe to flow out of the exhaust vent.
Tepco said its waste water was likely to have seeped out of the building and into the soil, adding that it would address the potentially contaminated soil and investigate the cause.
The company said its tests showed no significant change in the concentration of radioactive material and no waste water had entered the sea.
Japan began releasing 1.34 million tonnes (1.48 million tons) of treated nuclear waste water into the Pacific Ocean from August 24 in batches, prompting Hong Kong authorities to ban seafood imports from 10 Japanese prefectures.
The discharge was part of the Fukushima nuclear plant’s decommissioning process. The plant sustained significant damage during an earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
Hong Kong’s ban covers all aquatic products, sea salt and seaweed imported and supplied from Tokyo, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Miyagi, Chiba, Gunma, Tochigi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama.
Authorities have also ramped up testing for all Japanese seafood products.
Hong Kong has prohibited the import of all vegetables, fruit, milk, milk-based beverages and milk powder from Fukushima, while food from four nearby prefectures – Ibaraki, Tochigi, Chiba and Gunma – is only given entry after obtaining a radiation certificate and an exporter’s certificate issued by Japanese authorities.
Chilled or frozen game, meat and poultry, as well as poultry eggs from the five prefectures are allowed entry into Hong Kong with a radiation certificate from Japanese authorities.
