Fishermen Slam TEPCO for Silence on Cesium-Water Dumped in Pacific

(Natural Society) Tokyo Electric Power Co has already been seriously negligent, if not criminal, in reporting on the true severity of the Daiichi disaster. Now, fishermen from the Fukushima prefecture in Japan are shocked to find out that water containing cesium and other radioactive isotopes has been draining into the Pacific, while TEPCO sat silent and did nothing.

TEPCO apparently knew about the leak since last May. Fisheries are absolutely shocked. Masakazu Yabuki, chief of the Iwaki fisheries cooperative, said at a meeting with Tepco officials:

 “I don’t understand why (Tepco) kept silent even though they knew about it.”

TEPCO had previously sought the approval of local fishermen to dump groundwater into the ocean before it became tainted as a means of reducing the volume of water stored in the tanks at the reactor site. But due to this latest development, TEPCO fears a second round of approvals will be hampered, and they will not be able to dump more water.

TEPCO admitted this past week that they did not disclose rainwater leaks containing radioactive substances that were found in a drainage ditch, thought to be contaminated after last Spring’s rains. They knew that the water likely contained high radiation levels (with radioactive particles like cesium), even before it was dumped. The ditch is in direct alignment with runoff from the roof of the reactor 2 building.

TEPCO admits it recorded 29,400 becquerels of radioactive cesium per liter in water pooled on the rooftop.

The same water also contained 52,000 becquerels of beta-ray-emitting radioactive substances such as strontium-90. 1,050 becquerels of radioactive cesium. What’s more, 1,500 becquerels of beta ray-emitting radioactive materials per liter were detected, but purposefully drained through an outlet leading to the sea.

Despite this, TEPCO says that seawater it has tested near the outlet still has ‘low concentrations’ of radioactive substances – to 1km from the site.

Meanwhile, just last Sunday, TEPCO reported more radioactive water flowing into the ocean from yet another drainage ditch.

Yuji Moriyama, a Tepco spokesman said:

“We were aware that the levels of radioactive materials around the drainage ditch were higher than other places,”

Moriyama added that they didn’t disclose the information because it was not considered ‘harmful to the environment.’

The EU and US media have also covered up information about continuing Fukushima leaks, along with TEPCO.