Japan radioactive substances in seawater

Japan on Tuesday reported an above-normal presence of radioactive substances in seawater in the vicinity of the quake-and-tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi civil nuclear plant. The detection of seawater contamination added a new dimension to the continuing crisis over the general safety of the stricken nuclear reactors. And, the latest scare punctuated the unabated concerns over above-normal traces of radiation in the surrounding environment and in some local food products However, the Japanese authorities said the crisis should be viewed in the overall context of remedial and precautionary measures that were being adopted. In a message on the Facebook page of the Japanese Prime Minister's Office, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said: “There have been harmful rumours about Japanese foodstuffs. However, the shipment restrictions in question [on some food products of the Fukushima area] have been taken as a precautionary measure based on the government's conservative-standard values.” Noting that “higher-than-normal levels of radioactive caesium in fallout were detected on Monday night in respect of these food products, Mr. Edano said: “Even if a person is exposed to the levels in question for one month, it would be as much as about only 60 per cent of radiation in a round-trip [by aeroplane] between Tokyo and New York. It would be as much as about one-fifth of one-time CT scan.” The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), responsible for crisis management at the multi-reactor atomic energy plant, had earlier said “radioactive materials were detected [in] the seawater around the discharge canal (south) of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station.” At the nuclear complex itself, TEPCO continued its efforts to supply to the reactor sites electricity from outside the plant. The operation was designed to reactivate the cooling systems so that the radioactive discharges from the overheated spent nuclear fuel could be reduced.