Scientist warns radioactive water in Fukushima tanks more threatening than leaks into sea

Scientists believe that more than the radioactive water leaking into the sea from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, the water sitting in 1,000 huge tanks on land is more threatening.

Jota Kanda, a professor at Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology and one of the scientists who first pointed out that contaminated water was entering the sea, said that compared with the release of radioactive materials in the initial stage of the crisis, the amount of material now is overwhelmingly small.

Kanda said that the discharge does not have a big impact on fish in the sea and the real threat is the highly radioactive water sitting in the more than 1,000 huge tanks on land, the Japan Times reports.

According to Kanda's estimates, 17.1 trillion becquerels of cesium-137 was released into the sea in the period between June 2011 and September 2012.

He said that although the estimate appears huge, but it is overwhelmingly small when compared with the initial release and the contamination in fish has been steadily declining.

According to the report, Kanda said that if several of the tanks were breached in an accident or new natural disaster, all of that water would go directly into the sea, with catastrophic results.

He further added that the top priority for Tepco and the government should be to strengthen the tanks and remove the other radioactive materials in the water they're holding.