Radioactive water leak at nuke reactor under investigation in western Japan

The preparation work for restart of the No.4 reactor at Takahama plant, Fukui prefecture, was suspended on Sunday for investigation of a radioactive coolant water leak that happened the previous day.

According to the operator Kansai Electric Power Co., some 34 liters of coolant water was estimated to have leaked within a building attached to the No.4 reactor at Takahama plant on Saturday. The cause for the leak is still under investigation.

The company also said the radioactivity level of the leak was below what is needed to be reported to the state and the leak had not caused any effect on the environment.

According to local media, the resumption schedule of the reactor, which had been scheduled to restart late February, might be influenced by the incident.

The reactor was expected to be the fourth nuclear reactor reactivated in Japan under stricter safety rules set after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

There are currently three nuclear reactors in operation in Japan, including the No.3 reactor at the same plant which resumed operation on Jan. 29, and two reactors at Kyushu Electric Power Co.'s Sendai plant in Kagoshima Prefecture.

The Japanese government is trying to bring all of the nation's 48 reactors back online and make 20 percent of the country's electricity generated from nuclear power by 2030. Endit