Possibly from nearby oil tanks damaged in the March earthquake and tsunami
Oil has been found leaking into the sea near the crisis-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant, possibly from nearby oil tanks that may have been damaged in the March earthquake and tsunami, the plant operator said Tuesday, adding that it will set up oil fences to prevent the liquid from spreading into the Pacific Ocean.
The oil slick was found at 8 a.m. by Tokyo Electric Power Co workers who were patrolling the premises of the plant on the Pacific coast, and is believed to be spreading at a 200-300 meter range inside breakwaters.
As the leakage appears to have remained inside the breakwaters, the governments Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama said that the impact on areas outside the breakwaters is likely to be extremely limited so far.
Tokyo Electric suspects that the oil may have leaked from tanks located near the water intake for the Nos. 5 and 6 reactors or pipes that deliver the oil, because the March 11 disaster took place when a tanker was supplying oil. One of the tanks was moved from its original location because of the tsunami.
The tanks, each with a 960-kiloliter capacity, are believed to have had some heavy oil inside, but it is unknown exactly how much.
Nishiyama said that workers did not notice any oil leakage during their patrol at around 5 p.m. Monday, after northeastern Japan saw bad weather.
While workers at the plant continue to struggle to contain the ongoing nuclear crisis, it was found Tuesday that the head of a government taskforce on the Fukushima disaster has been absent since May 19 because of illness.
The head, senior vice industry minister Motohisa Ikeda, has been hospitalized, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Banri Kaieda told a parliamentary committee.
A senior bureaucrat of the nuclear safety agency is serving as the acting chief, but the government had not announced the fact.
Source: Japan Today