The Japanese government has ordered Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), which operates the quake-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant, to find the cause of soaring radioactivity at the nuke plant, top government spokesman Yukio Edano said on Sunday.
Levels of radioactive iodine in water at Fukushima’s reactor No. 2 were reported to be 10 million times above the normal levels earlier on Sunday.
Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said the high concentration of radioactive iodine-131 in water at the nuclear power plant’s second reactor could be explained by leaks from the reactor’s active zone.
All works at the reactor had been halted and its personnel evacuated.
The 9.0-magintude earthquake and tsunami that rocked Japan on March 11 triggered a number of explosions at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, spreading fears of massive radioactive contamination.
The confirmed death count in Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami has climbed to 10,668 while 16,574 people are still missing.
MOSCOW, March 27 (RIA Novosti)