Testing of groundwater outside the turbine
building of reactor No. 2 had shown the level
of strontium-90 had increased by more than
100 times between December 2012 and May
this year, Toshihiko Fukuda, a general manager
at TEPCO, told a news conference.
The reading for strontium-90 increased from 8.6
becquerels to 1,000 becquerels per liter between
December 8, 2012 and May 24, 2013, Fukuda said.
The elevated reading of strontium is more than
30 times the legal limit of 30 becquerels per liter.
TEPCO had previously been trying to convince
skeptical local fishermen that it is safe to dump
100 tons of the groundwater a day into the ocean
to take some of the strain off its storage facilities.
