Watchdog says radioactive water at Fukushima an emergency

"Tepco is trying to prevent groundwater from reaching the plant by building a "bypass" but recent spikes of radioactive elements in sea water has prompted the utility to reverse months of denials and finally admit that tainted water is reaching the sea."

Tepco is covering up and has covered up the truth from the start of the crisis.It seems that its estimations on the radioactive emanations in people,seawater and steam all seem to be incorrect Increases and decreases in radioactive element concentrations at present show that nuclear reactions are still taking place! The only way forward is to have a worldwide effort to tackle this radioactive poison.....what are the consequences if we do not?

What a mess! So Tepco has been lying to us about radiation, dirty contaminated water with god knows what not only into that immediate area but out into the sea?? And we still have hard headed folk here in Japan who say we SHOULD NOT CLOSE DOWN all of the nuclear power plants that are just like ticking time bombs, sitting on active faults and we should all just cross our fingers and hope the "next Fukushima type of incident" will not be so horrible?? Tepco has its hands full, this nuclear watch dog needs to step in and TAKE OVER, and here in Tokyo we need to get serious about this EMERGENCY. So Tokyo wants the Olyimpics?? Ok, how can we prove to the world that Tokyo will be nuclear free or that in case there is another huge earthquake, all of this radiation mess from Fukushima will not just spill down to Tokyo, etc..

Tepco, time to hand this over, you are done, please please let some people who care about public safety more than share prices take this over.

Where is the Japanese government?

Expect a lot worse to come folks...

Unbelievable! These are the sort of admissions that should have been made two years ago, when perhaps something could have been done about it! if they had come clean from the beginning, then yes, maybe people would have panicked, but at least other countries could have offered help and expertise and this dire situation may have been averted. As it stands Japan is destroying itself, and for what? Saving face? More likely, saving cash. I'm concerned that if they are admitting this much now, then the truth is far, far worse!

Coming clean for Japan is an impossible thing to do.

This is threatening the world's ecology. The UN should step in right now and demand that Japan open up the plants to outside inspections and outside recovery help or else Japan face severe sanctions. As history always proves, Japan changes only when it's forced to change by the outside world.

It's been an emergency since it happened, well done riding the catch up curve. JHC. As many of us have stated, this needs an international approach, a global crisis needs the best we have, the situation is only worsening, will pnly worsen and nightmares await.

The current situation of emergency is ALL because of TEPCO's way of not handling things properly since 3/11 (actually way before), spending more resources for covering-up and cashing money than caring of people and fixing their environment mess, the whole world knows about it and we have been saying the same for 2 years now with no reaction from the govt. Let them deal with the deep s. they have created at the first place, and let see how neighboring countries and UN will react from now. Worse is yet to come.

Why is the rest of the world allowing this company so much power? Why isn't the UN taking Japan to task on this?

Highly radioactive water seeping into the ocean from Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is creating an “emergency” that the operator is struggling to contain

An emergency? Ya think?

I figure in about half a year's time, after TEPCO asks for another bailout and demands another energy bill increase to cover winter heating, they'll finally admit a mere fraction of what's happened and that they need assistance beyond just money to get back into the black and avoid compensation payments.

Only in Japan can a company like this not only go unpunished, but be protected and given assistance.

Highly radioactive water seeping into the ocean from Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is creating an “emergency” that the operator is struggling to contain, an official from the country’s nuclear watchdog said on Monday.

So NOW it's an emergency?

So what's the worst case scenario ?

Some world authority needs to step in here and take control, its no longer a localised disaster it is spilling into international territory and could affect the whole pacific region severly, dunno if its the UN or who ever but surely there must be some type of world body who can take control.

Maybe a combined approach of nations with expertise france, germany, US, UK russsia etc , why is tepco allowed to continue to fumble along spewing the BullSh1t to the gullible?

Why is the rest of the world allowing this company so much power? Why isn't the UN taking Japan to task on this?

An EXCELLENT question.

TEPCO was mismanaging this debacle from the beginning, the government is ignoring the problems, i would worry about what more they are hiding, it wouldn't surprise me , if the fuel rods were never shut down and are slowly burrowing through the containment.

"Why is the rest of the world allowing this company so much power? Why isn't the UN taking Japan to task on this?"

Meh..... having that much common sense would give anyone a headache.

The Japanese are good at complaining about other countries on how much they pollute the environment but dare you to mention anything about their bad habits.All the people here wanna hear is how great Japan is and how good they are at collecting rubbish and recycling them.No Japanese official has ever apologized for polluting the ocean and asked for assistance in controlling/preventing the leak from happening and even now the 'news' is out they still won't ask for international help and nobody can deny that this is not only a JAPAN problem but an INTERNATIONAL problem

Failure to prepare for ANYTHING!

Get these guys OUT NOW!

Don't drink the milk! Its SPOILED! TEPCO needs an international investigation done on them as well as on the Government officials that let them get away with this huge mess! Those indited should be thrown in jail for crimes against humanity! Also experts from the international community needs to be brought in to contain and fix this leaking radiation problem!

Is there no government response to any of these new news releases or recommendations?

the whole world knows about it and we have been saying the same for 2 years now with no reaction from the govt

No, the whole world doesn't know about: it is being played down to the point of not being reported. The only people seemed concerned are a group of 'crazy gaijin' living in Japan and whose voices fall on deaf ears. The global community is being kept in the dark.

Where is the Japanese government? Is there no government response to any of these new news releases or recommendations?

Very good questions, NZ2011. For the people on this forum, instead of condemning and blaming TEPCO (which is very well deserved, nonetheless), these are the questions that need to be at the forefront of the discussion. TEPCO has already proven itself to be wholly incapable of handling the disaster, so (besides setting up panels), what exactly is the Japanese government doing to control the catastrophic dangers that await it's citizens? Anything? Nothing? Don't know? Neither do I. And therein lies the problem.

Where is the Japanese government? Is there no government response to any of these new news releases or recommendations?

How much money did TEPCO give to the LDP lately? I think the government should state that if contaminated ground water reaches the surface TEPCO executives will be jailed. But of course they will do nothing of the sort.

The government should have taken over two years ago, but they don't want the responsibility. They are happy for TEPCO to get the blame.

TEPCO stands for

Tokyo Epic-fail Power Company

Any numbers yet defining what TEEP means by "leaking"...............???

My faucet leaks. It won't be contaminating the coastal waters.

And, just HOW does water (probably gushing since 3/11) manage to STAY in the BAY and not eventually run out into the almighty ocean? Jedi mind control?

I'm being a bit silly, but these are serious questions. Where is the professional journalism that defines this loaded word, "leak"?

"Leak" 20 million gallons a day. Probably as insignificant as the destruction of the Gulf of Mexico.

I had posted a comment, on another article regarding same issue, that Fukushima NPP should be restored because Japan needs huge energy for its developed industry. Now after reading this article and relevant comments, I changed my mind. It is now obvious that Tepco has covered crucial facts, misled the community and the crisis is about to turn into (or maybe already did) a global catastrophe.

The most convenient thing to do now is to shut down this power plant permanently and immediately check out other NPPs states. I am not sure about international laws to which Japan subjects, but it is fairly expectable that neighbor countries file suits against Japan and request compensation for their economic and social losses caused by environmental damage.

not only is it Tepco and the government's fault for attempting to cover up the gravity of the situation, it is the Japanese public's fault for remaining generally apathetic to the whole situation. Social media news sites show that the average Japanese person is more interested in celebrity gossip than radiation poisoning. When the situation becomes too large for Tepco to contain, the rest of the word will suffer for Japanese Ineptitude.

This not radiation poisoning in Japan only, it is spreading all across the pacific ocean, United Nations must step in.

It's a bit harsh to blame the Japanese sheeple for their attitudes because they are brought up to follow, obey and not break the wa no matter what. It is as difficult for them to suddenly adopt non-Japanese values and thought patterns as it is for the gaijin community to suddenly adopt Japanese ones and accept the situation without complaint. It is unbelievably frustrating however, and I despair to think where this way of thinking is going to lead Japan to.

The conclusion is inevitable....

Bad news for a country that lives on sea food.

It's sad to say but in the next 2 years , humans will not be able to even be near the place. The setup Tepco has at the site is a utter mess, it will pollute the whole eastern sea board of asia, they are playing this disaster down because the public will panic and there will be a mass migration that will tip the old school way country's are run, as for the chinese flying scout planes, it's because they have already been informed about it. Sorry it's over , the nuclear cat is out of the bag.