Japan detects high radiation levels off coast
TOKYO: Japan has revealed radiation up to several hundred times normal levels has been detected on the seabed off the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, a report said Saturday.
The science ministry announced late Friday highly radioactive materials were detected in a 300-kilometre (190-mile) north-south stretch from Kesennuma in Miyagi Prefecture to Choshi in Chiba Prefecture, the Kyodo news agency reported.
The ministry warned that the contamination could affect the safety of seafood, the report said, without giving figures for the radiation levels detected.
The science ministry said it detected iodine and caesium on the seabed at 12 locations 15 to 50 kilometres from the coastline between May 9 and 14.
The news follows an announcement by environmental activist group Greenpeace on Thursday that marine life it had tested in waters more than 20 kilometres off the Fukushima nuclear plant showed radiation above legal limits.
The anti-nuclear group, which conducted the coastal and offshore tests this month, criticised Japanese authorities for their "continued inadequate response to the Fukushima nuclear crisis" sparked by the March 11 quake and tsunami.
Greenpeace said it detected seaweed radiation levels 50 times higher than official limits, which it charged raised "serious concerns about continued long-term risks to people and the environment from contaminated seawater".
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011
Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011
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