Radioactive materials found in Japanese seawater sampling

[News_Editor]

Radioactive materials found in Japanese seawater sampling

2011-03-26 10:16:05 GMT+7 (ICT)

VIENNA (BNO NEWS) -- Japanese officials on Saturday reported the results of new radiation samples collected offshore of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said.

The radiation samples were collected on March 24 about 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) offshore of the nuclear power plant, which was heavily damaged on March 11 when an enormous 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck off northeastern Japan. A resulting tsunami also caused serious damage.

A vessel from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) collected water samples at eight points and found measurable concentrations of iodine-131 and cesium-137. The new samples showed slight variations from samples taken on March 23, a day earlier.

However, despite radioactive materials being found, the iodine concentrations measured were about at Japanese regulatory limits, and the cesium levels were well below those limits.

"Dilution, both into deeper layers and by dispersion along the prevailing ocean currents will lead to a rapid decrease of the initial surface contamination," the IAEA's Marine Environmental Laboratory in Monaco said in a statement, commenting on the data from the samples.

"For the short term, iodine-131 will be the relevant radionuclide as far as doses are concerned, but for the long term, cesium-137 will be the more important radionuclide in the marine environment," the statement said. "It will be possible to follow this nuclide over long distances for several years."

The Marine Environmental Laboratory said it can be expected that radionuclides will take months or even years to reach other shores of the Pacific. The main transport of contamination takes place by atmospheric transport over long distances.

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