Pssssst the level of radiation at Fukushima is now 18 times higher

[questionseverything]

90. or nyt?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/21/world/asia/300-tons-of-contaminated-water-leak-from-japanese-nuclear-plant.html?_r=0

Tepco has stumbled repeatedly in its handling of the disaster and its efforts to clean up the plant. After its recent admission that contaminated water had reached the open ocean after breaching an underground barrier built to contain it, Japan’s popular prime minister, Shinzo Abe, ordered his government to intervene.

Tepco hopes to clean the water using an elaborate filtering system and start releasing water contaminated at low levels into the ocean. Those plans have been delayed by technical problems and protests from fishermen.

Desperate for options to stem the leaks, Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority has suggested surrounding the plant with a huge underground ice wall. That plan has its own drawbacks, however, and would require huge amounts of electricity.

“We are extremely concerned,” Hideka Morimoto, a spokesman for the authority, was quoted by The Associated Press as saying.

At some point, Tepco will have no choice but to start releasing some of the water, said Dr. Miyano, the expert in nuclear system design. The continued problems have heightened public scrutiny of Tepco and have made it harder to build public consensus around any release of water, he said.

“That just makes the problem worse, with no viable solution,” he said.