TEPCO dumps the mineral zeolite into the Pacific Ocean to absorb radioactive substances, with the goal of slowing down the contamination of the ocean, 16 April 2011. TEPCO / japannewstoday.com

TOKYO, April 21 (Kyodo) — Highly radioactive water that leaked into the Pacific Ocean from the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in early April contained an estimated 5,000 terabecquerels of radioactive substances, 20,000 times the annual allowable limit for the plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Thursday, adding that the leak amounted to 520 tons. It is the first time that the plant operator has issued data on the level of radioactive materials contained in the leak, which the utility estimated to have lasted for six days through April 6. But the actual scale of the leak may have been larger because a greater amount of contamination was detected in the sea from late March. The country’s worst nuclear crisis, triggered by the massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami, continued to affect residents near the plant in Fukushima Prefecture, with the government deciding the same day to legally enforce a no-entry zone within a 20-kilometer radius of the plant.

Radioactive leak into sea was 20,000 times above limit: TEPCO