Puddles of water with extremely high radiation levels have been found near water storage tanks on the premises of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, nuclear regulators and plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Monday.
The radiation level, measured around 50 cm above the toxic water, stood at about 100 millisieverts per hour, Tepco said, while acknowledging that the water likely came from the tanks. It is possible that around 120 liters of water has so far leaked out.
Tepco denied that toxic water had flowed into the Pacific Ocean, but the Nuclear Regulation Authority ordered the utility to study the possibility that the toxic water had escaped into the sea through nearby drains.