Accumulated radiation tops 17,000 microsieverts in Fukushima’s Namie village

TOKYO, April 16 (Kyodo) – The accumulated radiation level in Namie, 30 kilometers from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, in the three weeks through Friday stood at 17,010 microsieverts, according to a tally released by the science ministry Saturday. The accumulated levels during the period starting March 23 stood at 9,850 microsieverts in Iitate and 495 microsieverts in Minamisoma, both near the plant, it said. The readings compare with the level of 1,000 microsieverts that ordinary people in Japan can expect to be exposed to over one year. The amount of radioactive cesium stood between 12.7 and 71.0 becquerels per liter of surface seawater near the plant on Monday and Wednesday and 10.1 becquerels at deeper levels on Monday, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology said.

Accumulated radiation tops 17,000 microsieverts in Fukushima’s Namie

TOKYO, April 16 (Kyodo) – The level of radioactive substances in seawater increased sharply overnight inside a containment fence installed near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Saturday. The utility said the rise suggested that the fence is helping to curb the spread of contaminated water, but the government’s Nuclear Industrial and Safety Agency remained cautious, citing the possibility that radioactive water could still be seeping from the complex. The company said the level of radioactive iodine rose Saturday morning to 260 becquerels per cubic centimeter in seawater inside the fence near an intake leading to the No. 2 reactor. The figure, 6,500 times the legal limit, was around six times the 42 becquerels detected the previous day, the company said, adding the reading of radioactive cesium had also jumped by four times. TEPCO also said it plans on Sunday or later to throw sandbags containing zeolite, a mineral that absorbs radioactive materials, into the sea near intakes leading to the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 reactors to reduce the levels of contamination. …

Fukushima seawater radioactivity rises inside containment fence