Tokyo's main electric power company plans to release thousands of tons of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday. The move comes as the company continues to try locate the source of a leak of highly radioactive water.

The water, which is about 100 times more radioactive than Japan's legal limit, is collected in several areas inside the plant. Its presence is preventing workers from carrying out essential work, so Tokyo Electric plans to expel it into the sea.

The plant operator says it will dump around 11,500 tons of water into the ocean on Tuesday. The Japanese government says this poses no major health risk.

The move comes as Tokyo Electric continues its attempts to stop the release of radioactive water that is about 1,000 times over the legal limit.

On Monday the company used colored dye to trace the source of the leak. Tokyo Electric suspected the water was escaping through several cracks it had earlier found in concrete.

After several hours, the dyed water had not appeared, leading Tokyo Electric to suspect it might be coming from somewhere else. The company is continuing the search for the source of the leak.

Meanwhile in Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, announced government plans to increase restrictions on the sale of vegetables.

Edano says the government will halt the sale of vegetables from several areas of Chiba prefecture, which borders Tokyo to the east and is about 200 kilometers to the south of Fukushima.

The vegetables, including spinach, celery and parsley, have tested above the legal limit for radiation.

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/east-pacific/Japan-Nuclear-Plant-to-Release-Contaminated-Water-Into-Ocean-119169659.html

Thoughts?

If they don't do this then more damage will be done through their inaction, so this choice really is the lesser of two evils. On that note I think it is absolutely necessary to do this.

As bent as the sicle of the soviet flag and as hard as the hammer that crosses it.

Shit happens.

Poor Japan. Never gets cut a break.

Definitely not the best idea in the world, but as the water disperses it should dilute well enough

From the BBC:

"But it (Tepco) stressed in a news conference on Monday that if people ate fish and seaweed caught near the plant every day for a year, their radiation exposure would still be just 0.6 millisieverts. Normal background radiation levels are on the order of 2 millisieverts per year."

So not really ideal but hardly a huge deal in terms of public health risk. Most of the Iodine-131 in the water will have decayed in a couple of weeks so won't be a problem anyway. The only long term concern would be if there were significant ceasium concentrations in the water (although even then at these levels it's unlikely to provide any sort of risk).

Isn't Cesium in the class of elements that catch fire on contact with water? Or does the radioactive isotope not have that same effect?

Yeah, cesium is in that group but will only ignite on contact with water if it's in its elememtal form (I think!). In the rectors I think it's part of a cesium-uranium-oxide (or something like that) and so won't react with water, at least as far as I know!

It seems like it's the correct move.