Radiation levels at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station in Japan reached a new high on Sunday two weeks into the nuclear crisis. Leaked water samples at reactor Unit 2 had 100,000 times the radioactivity of normal background levels. The high levels of radiation suggest the reactors’ fuel rods had suffered a partial meltdown. Meanwhile, the levels of radioactive iodine in the sea near the plant are 1,100 times the legal limit. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano claimed the increased level of radiation was not harming sea life.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano: “Obviously, from now on we will have to expand and strengthen our monitoring of the radiation levels in seawater. However, radiation has not affected aquatic life for the time being, and at least specialists believe that sea life outside the 20-kilometer evacuation zone has not been affected.”