Highly radioactive water has been detected outside the reactor buildings for the first time, according to safety officials.

This water is emitting radiation at a rate of more than 1,000 millisieverts per hour. It is evidence of a probable meltdown at reactor two and a leak in a containment structure.

So far this highly radioactive water has not seeped into the groundwater system or the ocean, according to officials. However this threat is growing.

Even without contact with this highly radioactive water, radioactivity in nearby seawater has increased to record levels. A mile north of the facility,1,150 times the allowable level of radioactive iodine 131 was detected in a sample of seawater, according to the NYT. All areas within 12 miles of the plant have been closed to fishing.

Meanwhile workers are attempting to pump hundreds of tons of radioactive water out of the nuke plant into storage devices.