Fukushima Crews Find More Radioactive Water, Plutonium in Soil

Work crews at Fukushima's Daiichi nuclear complex have found new pools of radioactive water at the complex and plutonium in the soil surrounding the complex.

Tokyo Electric Power co. said the plutonium was found in five locations at the nuclear plant, but only two of the samples appeared to be from the leaking reactors, according to the Associated Press. The remaining reactors came from previous nuclear tests that left the element in many places around the world, the company said.

Meanwhile, radioactive water has been found in various places in the complex, including building basements. The water must be pumped out before work can continue to restore the cooling system of various reactors. The water was discovered Monday in trenches outside three of the reactor units.

While initial reports by TEPCO officials indicated that radiation from water leaking in reactor 2 was 10 million times above normal, the report was mistaken. The level was 100,000 times normal.