Radioactive leaks shuts reactor

A radioactive water leak forced officials to shut down a nuclear reactor at a troubled power plant in Japan today, just one day after it was brought on line after similar problems last year triggered a six-month hiatus.

About half a gallon of cooling water had dripped from a pipe seam on to the floor in the No. 2 reactor before the problem was discovered this morning, said Eichi Miyata, a spokesman at the Chubu Electric Power Co.

The leak posed no danger to the outside environment or inspectors, Miyata added.

It was the third accident in less than a year at Chubu’s Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka state, about 120 miles southeast of Tokyo.

On November 9 last year, the company found radioactive water dripping inside the No. 1 reactor.

Two days earlier, a small amount of radioactive steam was found leaking from a pipe that ruptured during a routine test of a pressure injection system.

The company has said neither of those leaks posed any radiation danger. At the time, it shut down both the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors for inspection.

The No. 1 reactor has remained off line. But No. 2 resumed on Friday and was to begin supplying electricity today had the latest accident not occurred.

Miyata said the company was investigating its cause and couldn’t say when the reactor might be operational again. The plant’s third and fourth reactors were still running, he added.

Japan relies on nuclear power to supply 30% of its electricity. However, the Japanese public has become increasingly wary of nuclear power since a 1999 radiation leak at a fuel-reprocessing plant killed two workers.