TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As Typhoon Hagibis hammered Japan on Saturday (Oct. 12), thousands of bags containing radioactive waste have reportedly been carried into a local Fukushima stream by floodwaters, potentially having a devastating environmental impact.
According to Asahi Shimbun, a temporary storage facility containing some 2,667 bags stuffed with radioactive contaminants from the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster was unexpectedly inundated by floodwaters brought by Typhoon Hagibis. Torrential rain flooded the storage facility and released the bags into a stream 100 meters away.
Officials from Tamara City in Fukushima Prefecture said that each bag is approximately one cubic meter in size. Authorities were only able to recover six of the bags by 9 p.m. on Oct. 12, and it is uncertain how many remain on the loose while the possible environmental impact is being assessed.
原発事故の除染ゴミが川に流出、保管場浸水 福島・田村https://t.co/6LjM7fqEvg
除染で出た草木など廃棄物が入った袋（フレコンバッグ）が、仮置き場から川に流出。現場には2667個が保管されており、市はすでに6個を回収したが、他にも流出したものがあるとみて確認を進めている。 #台風 #福島 pic.twitter.com/ALgPCq2AjE
— 朝日新聞デジタル編集部 (@asahicom) October 13, 2019
