TOKYO -- The operator of Japan's stricken nuclear plant reported Wednesday that it had apparently contained a leak that had been allowing radiation to seep into the sea.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. had said Tuesday that it had found iodine-131 at 7.5 million times the legal limit in a seawater sample taken earlier near the facility, and government officials instituted a health limit for radioactivity in fish. Other samples were found to contain radioactive cesium at 1.1 million times the legal limit.
The exact cause of the radiation was not immediately clear, though Tepco has said that highly contaminated water has been leaking from a pit near the No. 2 reactor. The utility had suspected the leak was coming from a crack, but several attempts to seal the crack failed to stop the flow.
