Is another nuclear emergency in the offing? Japanese officials express concern about the plant operator's ability to control the situation after a new leak is discovered. August 21, 2013 12:58 PM PDT (Credit: Getty Images) First it got classified as a level one incident on a severity scale used internationally to measure these sorts of things. Now Japan's nuclear agency has decided that a radioactive water leak from a storage tank at the Fukushima nuclear power plant merits a more serious level three. This is just the latest flip-flop by the authorities since the Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the nuclear plant, had to walk back previous statements and admit that, yes, radiated water was indeed making its way into the Pacific Ocean at a rate of 300 tons a day. So here we are, about two years removed from one of the biggest nuclear disasters in memory and Fukushima's future remains as murky as ever. Indeed, earlier in the month the nation's Prime Minster Shinzo Abe raised more questions about whether TEPCO has enough expertise to gain control over the situation. The (ongoing) lesson of Fukushima? It could have been worse (pictures) 1-2 of 9 Scroll Left Scroll Right
Is another nuclear emergency in the offing? Japanese officials express concern about the plant operator's ability to control the situation after a new leak is discovered.
(Credit: Getty Images) First it got classified as a level one incident on a severity scale used internationally to measure these sorts of things. Now Japan's nuclear agency has decided that a radioactive water leak from a storage tank at the Fukushima nuclear power plant merits a more serious level three.
This is just the latest flip-flop by the authorities since the Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the nuclear plant, had to walk back previous statements and admit that, yes, radiated water was indeed making its way into the Pacific Ocean at a rate of 300 tons a day.
So here we are, about two years removed from one of the biggest nuclear disasters in memory and Fukushima's future remains as murky as ever. Indeed, earlier in the month the nation's Prime Minster Shinzo Abe raised more questions about whether TEPCO has enough expertise to gain control over the situation.
