Reuters: Crisis deepening at Fukushima nuclear plant; Upgraded to ‘Level 3 Serious Incident’ — Represents a 100-fold increase in “severity of a radiological release” — Tepco says highly radioactive leakage continues, but unknown where from

Reuters, Aug 21, 2013: Japan to issue gravest Fukushima nuclear warning in two years-agency[...] Japan will dramatically raise its warning about the severity of a toxic water leak at the Fukushima nuclear plant, its nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday, its most serious action since the plant was destroyed [...] The deepening crisis at the Fukushima plant will be upgraded from a level 1 “anomaly” to a level three “serious incident”‘ [...] That will mark the first time Japan has issued a warning on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) since three reactor meltdowns [...] The leak [...] has not been plugged [...] Each one-step INES increase represents a tenfold increase in severity [...]

The Guardian, Aug 21, 2013: Japan is to issue its gravest warning about the state of the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant since the facility suffered a triple meltdown [...] The Nuclear Regulation Authority has now said it will dramatically raise the incident’s severity level from one to three on the eight-point scale used by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for radiation releases. Each single-digit increase in the scale actually represents a tenfold increase in the severity of a radiological release, according to the IAEA. [...] Tepco has admitted it has yet to identify the cause of the leak [...] The leak from the tank, which can hold up to 1,000 tonnes of water, has yet to be stemmed, according to Japanese media reports.

AP, Aug 21, 2013: Tokyo Electric Power Co. hasn’t figured out how or where the water leaked, but suspects it did so through a seam on the tank or a valve connected to a gutter around the tank.

AFP, Aug 21, 2013: TEPCO said the leak was believed to be continuing on Wednesday and it had not yet pinpointed the source of it [...]

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2. New highly radioactive leak from pipe at Fukushima plant — Expert: Nuclear material may be flowing from “damaged pipes or drains” into Pacific April 11, 2013
3. Anonymous Official: Tank at Fukushima may have leaked tons of highly radioactive liquid every day for a month… “We didn’t detect it for as long as 30 days” — Spokesman: Leakage is continuing… Other tanks may be affected August 20, 2013
4. NYTimes: 400 tons of highly radioactive water going into Pacific each day from Fukushima plant, says Tepco — Top Nuclear Regulator: This is a crisis August 7, 2013
5. Tepco: Strontium leaking into ocean — Tons more highly contaminated water enters sea — “TEPCO has apologized for the incident and says it will determine the cause and extent of the leakage” April 5, 2012