Radiation leak found outside Japan nuclear reactor -Rò rỉ phóng xà được tìm thấy bên ngoài lò phản ứng hạt nhân Nhật bản

The BBC's Mark Worthington says many people in Japan are becoming increasingly concerned about what is going to happen in the future

Highly radioactive water has been found for the first time outside one of the reactor buildings at Japan's quake-hit Fukushima nuclear plant, officials say.

The leak in a tunnel linked to the No 2 reactor has raised fears of radioactive liquid seeping into the environment.

Earlier, Japan's government strongly criticised the plant's operator, Tepco, over mistaken radiation readings.

Officials said the radiation scare inside the No 2 reactor was caused by a partial meltdown of fuel rods.

This discovery of highly radioactive water outside a reactor building is a worrying development, says the BBC's Mark Worthington in Tokyo.

Up until now, pools of water with extremely high levels of radiation have only been detected within the reactor buildings themselves.

The water was found in an underground maintenance tunnel, with one end located about 55m (180ft) from the shore.

However, Tepco said there was no evidence that the contaminated water had reached the sea.

The discovery comes as Japan's chief cabinet secretary said that the priority at the plant was to ensure that contaminated water did not leak into the soil or the sea.

Yukio Edano was speaking at a news conference a day after Tepco said radiation levels at reactor No 2 were 10 million times higher than normal before correcting that figure to 100,000.

"Considering the fact that the monitoring of radioactivity is a major condition to ensure safety, this kind of mistake is absolutely unacceptable," Mr Edano said.

That water is the most contaminated to be found at the plant so far. Radiation levels were measured at 1,000 millisieverts an hour, a dose that can cause temporary radiation sickness.

Tepco has apologised but the mistaken reading at the Fukushima Daiichi plant has called into question the operating company's handling of the current crisis, our correspondent says.

Tepco has been criticised for a lack of transparency and failing to provide information more promptly and for making a number of mistakes, including worker clothing.

Two workers were taken to hospital last week after wading though contaminated water with inadequate protection. They were expected to be released on Monday.

FUKUSHIMA UPDATE: TIN TỨC FUKUSHIMA CẬP NHẬT

• Reactor 1: Damage to the core from cooling problems. Building holed by gas explosion. Highly radioactive water detected in reactor
• Reactor 2: Damage to the core from cooling problems. Building holed by gas blast; containment damage suspected. Highly radioactive water detected in reactor and adjoining tunnel
• Reactor 3: Damage to the core from cooling problems. Building holed by gas blast; containment damage possible. Spent fuel pond partly refilled with water after running low. Highly radioactive water detected in reactor
• Reactor 4: Reactor shut down prior to quake. Fires and explosion in spent fuel pond; water level partly restored
• Reactors 5 & 6: Reactors shut down. Temperature of spent fuel pools now lowered after rising high