DHAKA: The operator of Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant said Saturday it had found new radiation hotspots near tanks storing toxic water, with one reading peaking at 1,800 millisieverts per hour, a potentially lethal dose.

Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) detected high radiation readings at four sites around the tanks although none of the containers showed any visible fall in their water levels, according to a statement reported by two Japanese news agencies, reports The Straits Times.

Last week the plant operator admitted 300 tonnes of toxic water had seeped out of one of the vast containers, one of around 1,000 on the site, before anyone had noticed.

The spill, which sparked fears the toxic water may have seeped into the nearby ocean, was categorised as a Level 3 event, making it the single most serious incident since three reactors went into meltdown after being swamped by a 2011 earthquake-sparked tsunami.

BDST: 1443 HRS, SEPT 01, 2013
RoR/BSK