Originally published on September 2, 2013<br /><br />Radiation levels near some of the storage tanks holding contaminated water at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan have increased by a factor of 18, a spokesman for plant's operator said on Sunday.<br /><br />The Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) had originally said that radiation emitted by contaminated water leaking from storage tanks was around 100 millisieverts an hour.<br /><br />The new measurements, using better equipment, showed radiation levels of 1,800 millisieverts an hour - a level that could kill an exposed person in four hours. <br /><br />Tepco added that no new leak had been detected at the tank, but another leak reading 230 millisieverts an hour was found.<br /><br />Following reports of the latest leak, Japan's nuclear-energy watchdog upped the incident level on an international scale measuring the severity of atomic accidents from one to three. The maximum level is seven.<br /><br />Meanwhile, radiation that leaked into the ocean following the tsunami and subsequent explosions is expected to reach the west coast of the US by next year, a new study has shown.<br /><br />The research, from Spain and Australia, showed that radiation from Fukushima would likely begin flowing into US coastal waters in early 2014, peaking two years later in 2016. <br /><br />Ocean currents off the coast of Japan, however, have diluted to radiation to levels of between 10-30 Becquerels, well below the WHO's safety levels.<br /><br />--------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />TomoNews is your daily source for top animated news. We've combined animation and video footage with a snarky personality to bring you the biggest and best stories from around the world.<br /><br />For news that's fun and never boring, visit our channel:<br />https://www.youtube.com/user/TomoNewsUS<br /><br />Subscribe to stay updated on all the top stories:<br />http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=TomoNewsUS<br /><br />Stay connected with us here:<br />Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TomoNewsUS<br />Twitter @tomonewsus http://www.twitter.com/TomoNewsUS<br />Google+ http://gplus.to/TomoNewsUS
