Radioactivity levels are soaring in seawater near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant, Japan's nuclear safety agency said, two weeks after the nuclear power plant was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami.
Even as engineers tried to pump puddles of radioactive water from the power plant 240kms north of Tokyo, the nuclear safety agency said tests yesterday showed radioactive iodine had spiked 1,250 times higher than normal in the seawater just offshore the plant.
Officials said iodine 131 levels in seawater 30kms from the coastal nuclear complex were within acceptable limits established by regulations and the contamination posed little risk to aquatic life.
‘Ocean currents will disperse radiation particles and so it will be very diluted by the time it gets consumed by fish and seaweed,’ said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a senior official from Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.
Despite that reassurance, the disclosure may well heighten international concern over Japanese seafood exports.
Several countries have already banned milk and produce from areas around the Fukushima Daiichi plant, while others have been monitoring Japanese seafood.
Underscoring growing international qualms about nuclear power raised by the earthquake and tsunami in northeast Japan two weeks ago, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said it was time to reassess the international atomic safety regime.
Radioactive water has been found in buildings of three of the six reactors at the power complex.
On Thursday, three workers sustained burns at reactor No 3 after being exposed to radiation levels 10,000 times higher than usually found in a reactor.
The 9.0 magnitude quake and giant waves on 11 March left more than 10,000 people dead and 17,000 missing.
However, despite such a shocking toll, much attention since the disaster has been on the possibility of a catastrophic meltdown at Fukushima.
With elevated radiation levels around the plant triggering fears across the nation, storage of the contaminated water has to be handled carefully.
A senior official of Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency initially said the high radiation reading meant there could be damage to the reactor, but he later said it could be from venting operations to release pressure or water leakage from pipes or valves.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said yesterday there had not been much change in the crisis over the previous 24 hours.
More than 700 engineers have been working in shifts to stabilise the plant and work has been advancing to restart water pumps to cool their fuel rods.
Two of the plant's reactors are now seen as safe but the other four are volatile, occasionally emitting steam and smoke. However, the nuclear safety agency said today that temperature and pressure in all reactors had stabilised.
Vegetable and milk shipments from near the stricken plant have been stopped, and Tokyo's residents were told this week not to give tap water to babies after contamination from rain put radiation at twice the safety level.
It dropped back to safe levels the next day, and the city governor cheerily drank tap water in front of cameras.
Experts say radiation from the plant is still generally below levels of exposure from flights or medical X-rays.
