Radiation Level near Japan's Fukushima Plant Rises

World | March 31, 2011, Thursday // 09:38|  views

A handout picture provided by Air Photo Service on 30 March 2011 shows an aerial photo taken by a small unmanned drone of the damaged Units 3 (L) and 4 (R) of Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Photo by EPA/BGNES

The level of radiation in the ocean waters off Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant has risen to 4385 times the legal limit, according to the country's nuclear safety agency official.

The samples, taken Wednesday from about 330 meters into the Pacific Ocean, showed a significant increase from the previous day, when the same radioactive iodine 131 was 3355 times the standard.

For comparison, last Friday, samples showed radiation level of only 104 times more than the typical level.

The radiation is suspected to be a direct result of the problems at Fukushima, which was severely damaged in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

However, government and utility officials have stated that they have yet to pinpoint the exact source of radiation leak.

They also said that the contamination does not possess a health risk to humans for eating seafood, since fishing in not allowed within 20 kilometers of the plant.

According to experts, iodine 131 loses half of its radiation every eight days and should further dilute over time in the seawater.

The chair of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) , the Japanese company that owns the Fukushima plant, said Wednesday that it has to eventually shut down four of the six reactors.

"Looking at current conditions, I have to say there are no options other than decommissioning reactors 1-4," Tsunahisa Katsumata said.

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Tags: Japan, Fukushima, nuclear plant, radioactive, iodine, TEPCO, radiation

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