An underground reservoir of Fukushima's reactor waste has been moving slowly towards the ocean, and experts fear it will spill into the Pacific in the very near future.
The contaminated water "spilled out of" the nuclear plant's reactors in the wake of the 2011 tsunami, the Associated Press reported via the Huffington Post.
Controlling the contaminated water has been a struggle, earlier this week a leak was found in a tank containing the potentially-harmful substance.
Experts believe the creeping underground toxic is a more serious issue, one that has few solutions. Many people believe the issue could have been kept under control if Tokyo Electric Power Co. had acknowledged the problem.
About 1,000 gallons of water from the nearby mountains flows through the plant every day. It sinks into the basement and becomes contaminated, and then makes its way down to the ocean.
Experts are unsure of what the widespread impact will be when the radioactive water spills into the ocean. Fishing has been banned in the area since the disaster, but Iwaki City fishermen had been hoping to test the fish for safety next month. Those plans were scrapped following the tank leak.
"Nobody knows when this is going to end," Masakazu Yabuki, a veteran fisherman in Iwaki, said, according to the AP. "We've suspected (leaks into the ocean) from the beginning. ... TEPCO is making it very difficult for us to trust them."
Scientists had suspected TEPCO was leaking their waste into the ocean after finding some unusually radioactive bottom-dwelling fish. Only recently did the company admit that some contaminated water was getting into the Pacific.
"So far, we don't have convincing data that confirm a leak from the turbine buildings. But we are open to consider any possible path of contamination," TEPCO spokesman Yoshimi Hitosugi, said.
The company has suggested installing "frozen walls" around the plant to keep the water contained, but this would not be ready until 2015. Chemical blockades have also been installed along the coast, but experts question their effectiveness.
The water is extremely close to reaching the coast, it is currently about 500 feet from the coast and spreading at a rate of 13 feet a month.
"This is a race against the clock," Toyoshi Fuketa, a commissioner on Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority, said.
