measurement since the start of the nuclear crisis in March 2011. 10 July Japanese government admits Fukushima Daiichi may have been leaking radioactive water into ground water and into the ocean since 2011. 22 July TEPCO admits that since the 2011 reactor breaches, radioactive water has continued to leak from the plant into groundwater, making the groundwater radioactive, with implications for drinking water and for the Pacific. 19 August It is discovered that 300 tonnes of highly contaminated water (80 MBq/L) had leaked from a storage tank and seeped into the ground. 21 August Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority raises the severity of the contaminated water leaks at Fukushima to INES level 3 "serious incident". 26 August The Japanese government takes charge in dealing with the contaminated water situation. Trade minister Toshimitsu Motegi says "We've allowed Tokyo Electric to deal with the contaminated water situation on its own and they've essentially turned it into a game of Whack-a-Mole". 15 September Japan is once again nuclear free as its only working reactor goes offline for refuelling and maintenance. 18 November Workers begin removing fuel rods from a storage pond at the Unit 4 reactor building. About 1,500 rods, some of them damaged, must be removed in a risky and dangerous operation set to take a year. Removed rods will then be moved into a more secure storage. 2014 6 February The reanalysis of a groundwater sample taken from a well in July 2013 updates its measurement from 900,000 Bq/L total beta radioactivity to a record-high 5 MBq/L of strontium-90 only (corresponding to about 10 MBq/L total beta radioactivity), after a problem with the measuring devices was found in October. 13 February It is revealed that TEPCO had concealed for months the increase in measured groundwater radioactivity. 21 May TEPCO begins operation to bypass groundwater flow around the reactor by pumping upstream groundwater to storage tanks, then discharging directly to the sea after measuring the contamination levels. 3 June TEPCO begins to construct facilities to establish an ice wall within the ground around the reactors to prevent contaminated water to mix with groundwater flowing under the area. 7 July TEPCO has switched off the cooling system at reactor 5 due to a 3mm leak near a flow valve. Approximately 1,300-litre of water has spilled. They have approximately 9 days to repair it before water temperature reaches 65 degrees Celsius 17 July TEPCO launches