Highly radioactive water found in tunnel outside nuclear plant

NGOs critical of Japan's quake responseSTORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: Water in a tunnel connected to a No. 2 unit building emits 1,000 millisieverts per hourNEW: That is 100,00 times normal levels for coolants inside a nuclear reactor NEW: Airborne radiation readings near that tunnel are also high, officials sayNEW: Officials are trying to determine whether the water overflowed and went into the Pacific Tokyo (CNN) -- Water found in a tunnel at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has alarmingly high radiation readings, officials said Monday, adding that it is unclear how or why the tainted water got out of the building.

The water at the plant is emitting more than 1,000 millisieverts per hour of radioactivity -- a level the plant's owner had said is at least 100,000 times normal levels for coolants inside a nuclear reactor.

It was in a tunnel that contains electrical cables and is connected to the No. 2 reactor's turbine building, an official with the Tokyo Electric Power Co. said. The measurements were taken Monday afternoon.

Earlier, officials had announced that 1,000 millisieverts per hour of radiation was emanating from water pooling inside the No. 2 unit turbine building's basement.

The officials said they don't know how or why the contaminated water got out of the building and into the tunnel, or if it might have spilled out and seeped into the Pacific Ocean.

The measurement is more than 330 times the dose an average person in a developed country receives per year, and four times the top dose Japan's health ministry has set for emergency workers struggling to control the further emission of radioactive material from the damaged plant.

"Is the water overflowing or not?" Hidehiko Nishiyama, an official with Japan's nuclear and industrial safety agency, said Monday evening. "Right now, it is not known."

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