An extremely high level of radiation has been found in fish caught in waters near the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company(TEPCO) said an average of 38-thousand becquerels of cesium were found in each kilogram of fish caught in waters within a radius of 20 kilometers from the nuclear power plant.

TEPCO made the finding through an examination of fish caught in waters at the depth of 15 meters on August first. Japan’s maritime authorities confirmed the results.

This is the highest level reported in the 17 months since an earthquake and tsunami triggered the disaster at the power plant. It is 380 times higher than the permissible level set by the Japanese government.