The operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant said it had found another leak of contaminated water on Wednesday, piling pressure on the utility to curb the problem as it seeks permission to release water to the sea.
The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power plant was hit by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami more than two years ago, triggering nuclear reactor meltdowns and explosions.
Tokyo Electric Power, or Tepco, said a worker patrolling the area spotted the leak just after noon, with droplets of contaminated water leaking out between the tank's circular steel structure.
The latest leak was acknowledged after Tepco said earlier this week it had detected radioactive cesium in groundwater flowing into the plant -- overturning an early finding that contamination was negligible.
The plant's still precarious state also serves as a reminder of the poor management of the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986 as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government presses ahead with a drive to export Japan's nuclear technology.
About 400 metric tons (441 tons) of groundwater flow daily into the reactor buildings only to be mixed with highly contaminated water that comes from cooling the melted fuel.
The government ordered Tepco last week to increase storage capacity of water tanks and construct a wall of frozen earth around the four reactor buildings to stem the flow of groundwater seeping into the plant.
Tepco is also trying to construct a bypass that would route the water away from the plant and into the ocean. That plan requires the agreement of fishermen who oppose plans to dump 100 metric tons of groundwater a day from the plant into the sea.
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