Fukushima Leaks Are Getting Worse

07:14

August 23, 2013

A construction worker walks beside the underground water tank and water tanks at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant at Okuma in Fukushima prefecture, Japan, June 12, 2013. (Toshifumi Kitamura/AP)

More than two years after an earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan and crippled the Fuskushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, contaminated water is leaking from some of the storage facilities there.

Officials say the level of radiation close to latest leak is extremely high — 8 million times the safe level for drinking water.

Apart from the short-term issue of the leaks, the estimated length of time for the entire cleanup effort around the plant is expected to be 100 years.

BBC: Q&A: Fukushima leak problems

Guest

Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, Tokyo correspondent for the BBC.

This segment aired on August 23, 2013.