Nuclear Contamination Threatens Seawaters
Fukushima Nuclear Crisis
EMF Protection Products
Electromagnetic Field Meter
2011-08-16 By Wang Qian (China Daily)
BEIJING - China's seawaters are at risk of being
contaminated by radioactive materials coming from the
Japanese nuclear power plant that was seriously damaged in
the large earthquake that struck in March, China's ocean
watchdog said.
The State Oceanic Administration's environmental
protection department told China Daily that China will
strengthen its monitoring for radioactive substances in the
waters east of Fukushima, where the nuclear plant is, and in
the East China Sea. By doing so, they hope to forecast what
effect the radiation released by the plant will have on the
marine environment and the safety of marine food.
The latest monitoring result released by the State
Oceanic Administration on July 29 showed the first group of
seawater samples collected from the area contained 300 times
the amount of radioactive cesium that is found in nature and
100 times the amount of strontium.
The quality of the water and air in China haven't been
affected so far by the radiation, the department said.
From June 16 to July 4, the administration sent a
supervision team to look for radioactive materials in the
waters east of Fukushima. They monitored an area
encompassing 252,000 square kilometers, collecting large
amounts of water, air and marine organisms during that time.
The test results will be gradually made public, according
to the State Oceanic Administration.
In April, Tokyo Electric Power Co, the owner of the
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, announced plans to
discharge about 11,500 tons of low-level radioactive water
from the plant into the sea.
About 60,000 tons of water have been used to lower the
temperature of the six reactors at the plant. The March
earthquake and subsequent tsunami caused some of the plant's
reactor cores to melt down after fuel rods there had become
overheated, according to the Fukushima Nuclear Accident
Update Log that was released by the International Atomic
Energy Agency on April 11.
The State Oceanic Administration said the marine
organisms in the places that are being monitored have been
contaminated to different extents. Those that live near the
surface are at a greater risk of being affected.
Cesium-137 and strontium-90 both have half-lives of about
30 years, making it more likely they will eventually enter
the food chain and affect the health of consumers, the
environmental protection department said.
Researchers will continue to try to protect public health
by monitoring and gauging the effect of the radiation
release on China's marine environment, according to the
department.
China Daily
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