TOKYO (BNO NEWS) -- The Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) on Monday said high level radiation exceeding 1,000 millisieverts per hour were found in water in a trench outside the No. 2 reactor's turbine building at the troubled nuclear power plant in Fukushima on Sunday afternoon.

The contaminated water is located just 55 meters (180 feet) from the shore, although officials said water flow into the sea had not been confirmed, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported.

The trench is formed like a tunnel with its surface located roughly one meter below the ground. In addition, pool of water in the basement of the turbine building for the No. 2 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi complex was also found with high levels of radioactivity, prompting further environmental concern.

TEPCO also announced that the level of radiation at a similar trench for the No. 1 reactor was 0.4 millisievert per hour, as radiation could not be measured at a similar location for the No. 3 unit due to difficulty getting there.

Northeastern Japan was devastated by an enormous 9.0-magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami earlier this month, killing at least 10,800 people and leaving more than 16,000 others missing. Several aftershocks have continued to shake the country since the March 11 quake.

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