DHAKA: Groundwater radiation levels at Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant have soared near a tank that leaked 300 tonnes of toxic water in August, struggling operator Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) said.

Tepco said water samples collected from a well on Thursday contained 400,000 becquerels per litre of beta-ray emitting substances, the highest reading since the nuclear accident was triggered in March 2011.

Samples in previous days had been showing levels of just 60 to 90 becquerels per litre. The reading for radioactive tritium also shot up to a record high of 790,000 becquerels, Tepco said.

The leaking storage tank was discovered in August, and Tepco said measures taken since then had included transferring water from the tank and removing the surrounding soil.

‘Other wells are not showing such a high level. We need to take additional measures for the areas around this well,’ Masayuki Ono, Tepco spokesman, said at a news conference, The Straits Times publishes this report on Saturday.

BDST: 1735 HRS, OCT 19, 2013
RoR/JCK