Radioactive iodine-131 at concentrations higher than the legal limit was first detected in waters off the plant more than a week ago. "There could be other similar cracks in the area, and we must find them as quickly as possible." "This could be one of the sources of seawater contamination," Nishiyama said. Radiation quickly disperses in both air and water, and experts have said that it would be quickly diluted by the vast Pacific Ocean, where even large amounts have little effect. Workers have taken samples of the water in the pit and seawater and are analyzing them to determine the level of contamination. Even just two feet away, that figure dropped to 400 millisieverts. Measurements showed the air above the radioactive water in the pit contained more than 1,000 millisieverts per hour of radioactivity. The crack was apparently caused by the quake and may have been leaking since then, said spokesman Osamu Yokokura of Tokyo Electric Power Co., which runs the plant. Saturday's leak was from a newly discovered crack in a maintenance pit on the edge of the Fukushima complex, Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama said. "The government has been too focused on the Fukushima power plant rather than the tsunami victims," said Shimanuki, 35.
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