"Radiation Near Japanese Plant's Tanks Suggests New Leaks"

"TOKYO -- A crisis over contaminated water at Japan's stricken nuclear plant worsened on Saturday when the plant's operator said it had detected high radiation levels near storage tanks, a finding that raised the possibility of additional leaks."

"The operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, or Tepco, said it had found the high levels of radiation at four separate spots on the ground, near some of the hundreds of tanks used to store toxic water produced by makeshift efforts to cool the Fukushima Daiichi plant's three damaged reactors. The highest reading was 1,800 millisieverts per hour, or enough to give a lethal dose in about four hours, Tepco said.

The contaminated spots were found as Tepco employees checked the integrity of the tanks after a leak two weeks ago released 300 tons of toxic water into the Pacific. That leak prompted Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to announce that the government would step in at the plant, which was crippled two years ago by a huge earthquake and tsunami, to help get it under control amid rising public fears of a second environmental disaster."

Martin Fackler reports for the New York Times August 31, 2013.

SEE ALSO:

"Fukushima Radiation Levels '18 Times Higher' Than Thought" (BBC)

"Japan Government Abandons Hands-Off Approach To Fukushima Clean-Up" (Reuters)

"Fukushima: Japan Promises Swift Action on Nuclear Cleanup" (Guardian)

"Japan Reiterates May Consider Discharging Radiated Fukushima Water Into Ocean" (Reuters)

"Fukushima's Radioactive Plume Could Reach U.S. Waters By 2014" (LiveScience)

"Fukushima Radiation Levels Spike, Company Says" (CNN)

"Japan Regulator Raises Concerns About Fukushima Storage Tanks" (AP)