Radioactive substances in seawater near Japan nuke plant

Abnormally high levels of radioactive substances have been detected in seawater near a quake-crippled nuclear power plant in Japan, its operator said early Tuesday.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said the level of iodine-131 was 126.7 times higher and caesium-134 was 24.8 times higher than government-set standards.

The substances were detected in seawater which was sampled Monday about 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of the Fukushima No.1 plant, a TEPCO official said.

The level of caesium-137 was also 16.5 times higher while that of cobalt-58 was lower than the standard, Naoki Tsunoda added, stressing the levels were not a threat to human health.