Nuclear Meltdown

Groundwater at Japan plant 10,000 times legal radiation limit

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-04-01 06:36

TOKYO - Radioactive substance about 10,000 times the limit was found at the groundwater around the No 1 reactor of the troubled Fukushima No 1 nuclear power plant, local media reported Friday.

Related readings:  Higher radiation found outside Japan nuke plant  Japan: Radiation may be leaking continuously into sea  Seawater near JP reactor 3,355 times legal radiation limit  Trace radiation found in more Chinese areas

A official with the plant's operator Tokyo Electric Power Co said Thursday that the radiation level is "extremely high," according to Kyodo News report.

Also on Thursday, the level of radioactive iodine-131 found in seawater near the nuclear power plant, about 240 kilometers northeast from Tokyo, has soared to its highest reading yet at a concentration of 4,385 times the legal limit.

The Japanese authorities have been stepping up efforts to fix the plant crippled by devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami.