Radioactive levels at Fukushima lower than reported, but remain high

Levels of radioactive iodine in water at Fukushima’s reactor No. 2 are 100,000 times above the normal levels, Kyodo Japanese news agency said.

Earlier on Sunday on Sunday the levels were reported to be 10 million above the normal.

The Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), which operates the quake-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant, retracted the previous announcement.

TEPCO said on its website that there was a “mistake in the assessment of the measurement of iodine-134.”

The Japanese government has ordered the company to find the cause of soaring radioactivity at the nuke plant, top government spokesman Yukio Edano said earlier in the day.

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 is reaching 11,000 while over 16,000 people are still missing.

MOSCOW, March 27 (RIA Novosti) 

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