By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Levels of radioactive iodine in water at Fukushima’s reactor 2 are 100,000 times above the normal levels, Kyodo Japanese news agency said.
Earlier 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 March 11 triggered a number of explosions at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, spreading fears of massive radioactive contamination.
The toll from the quake and ensuing tsunami stood at 10,489 Sunday, while 16,621 people were listed as missing, DPA reported police as saying.