Puddles of water with extremely high radiation levels have been found near water storage tanks of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Nuclear regulators and plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said that the radiation level, measured around 50 cm above the toxic water, stood at about 100 millisieverts per hour.
Tepco acknowledged that the water likely came from the tanks and that around 120 liters of water has so far leaked out, the Japan Times reports.
It however denied that toxic water had flowed into the Pacific Ocean, but the Nuclear Regulation Authority ordered the utility to study the possibility that the toxic water had escaped into the sea through nearby drains, the report added.