Radioactivity in Japanese waters thousands of times higher than normal
With recent reports that there have been further radioactive leaks from
the Fukushima nuclear power plants, a new study has assessed the level
of radioactivity in the ocean in the first months after the disaster.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution chemist Ken Buesseler and two
Japanese colleagues report that discharges from the power plants peaked
a month after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and continued through
at least July. The disaster was the largest accidental release of
radiation to the ocean in history. Concentrations of cesium-137 at the
plants’ discharge points to the ocean peaked at more than 50 million
times normal levels. (tgdaily.com)
