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The finding comes four years after a massive
earthquake and tsunami caused meltdowns at Tokyo Electric Power
Co Inc's Fukushima reactors, and 1-1/2 years after Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe assured the International Olympic Committee
that radiation leaks at the plant were "under control".
Tokyo's victory over rivals Madrid and Istanbul to host the 2020
Olympic Games followed soon after Abe's declaration.
Tokyo Electric said it has been aware since last spring that
radiation levels in water running in one of the plant gutters
rise when it rains but had confirmed the source of the
contamination only on Tuesday.
Leakage of contaminated water into the sea in and of itself does
not violate regulations because the outflow of radiation from
the plant is controlled by monitoring radiation levels in sea
water, a Nuclear Regulation Agency official said.
There have been no meaningful changes in radiation levels in sea
water nearby, Tokyo Electric said.
The electric utility believes gravel and blocks laid on the roof
of the building are the source of contamination, and said it
plans to remove them by the end of March and take other measures
to stop rainwater from being contaminated.
Sample rainwater collected at one corner of the rooftop
contained 23,000 becquerels per liter of cesium 137, more than
10 times as high as radiation levels in sample water taken from
other parts of the roof, Tokyo Electric said.
(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Catherine Evans)
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