Thursday, August 22, 2013

By Junko Ogura and Katie Hunt, CNN

updated 5:06 AM EDT, Thu August 22, 2013

Tokyo (CNN) -- The operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant has said they need help from outside Japan to stabilize and safely decommission damaged reactors at the facility.

This follows the news that regulators are poised to declare a fresh toxic water leak at Fukushima a level 3 "serious incident," the gravest warning since the massive 2011 earthquake and tsunami that sent three reactors into meltdown.

Zengo Aizawa, vice president of the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), told reporters at a press conference late Wednesday that there are "many other countries outside of Japan that have experienced decommissioning reactors, so we hope we can consult them more and utilize their experience.

"In that sense, we need support, not only from the Japanese government but from the international community to do this job."

Earlier Wednesday, Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) said the new leak was expected to be classified as a level 3 incidenton the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, though this will be done once they have received an opinion from the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The NRA said they have received a first response from the IAEA asking for more details about the leaking tank, especially the structure and its initial role.

"The current situation is at the point where more surveillance won't be enough to keep the accidents from happening," Shunichi Tanaka, chairman of the NRA, said at a news conference Wednesday.