Kyodo
About 12 tons of water contaminated with radioactive strontium are feared to have leaked from the Fukushima No. 1 plant into the Pacific Ocean, Tepco said Thursday.
The leak occurred when a pipe broke off from a joint while the water was being filtered for cesium, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said.
The system doesn't remove strontium, and most of the water apparently entered the sea via a drainage route, Tepco added.
The water contained 16.7 becquerels of cesium per cu. centimeter and tests are under way to determine how much strontium was in it, Tepco said.
Naturally occurring strontium is absorbed by the body like calcium. Its radioactive isotope is believed to cause bone cancer and leukemia.