TOKYO: A new leak of 100 tonnes of highly radioactive water has been discovered at Fukushima, the plant’s operator said yesterday, after it revealed only one of nine thermometers in a crippled reactor was working.
The toxic water is no longer escaping from a storage tank, a spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power said, adding it was likely contained. “As there is no drainage way near the leak, which is in any case far from the ocean, it is unlikely that the water has made its way into the sea.” The tank, one of hundreds to store water contaminated during the process of cooling broken reactors, sits around 700 metres from the shore. The water has a beta radiation reading at 230 million becquerel per litre.
Taiwan, China to sign two deals
TAIPEI: Taiwan and China plan to sign agreements on meteorology and earthquake monitoring, officials said. The pacts are expected to be signed next Thursday in Taipei when China’s top negotiator Chen Deming visits the island. The former commerce minister is President of China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, which handles exchanges with Taiwan. The two deals would bring to 21 the number of pacts inked since 2008. agencies
