Radiation levels in seawater off coast of Fukushima highest

PanARMENIAN.Net - Japan’s science ministry says radiation levels in seawater off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture are the highest since it began monitoring them about 3 weeks ago.

The ministry says the level of iodine-131 was 88.5 becquerels per liter in a sample taken on Monday in the sea about 30 kilometers east of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The figure is 2.2 times the government's upper limit for wastewater from nuclear facilities.

The level of cesium-137 was also the highest observed so far, but was below the limit.

Tokyo Electric Power Company says the iodine-131 level was 23 times the upper limit in a sample taken 15 kilometers from the plant. This was the highest figure since TEPCO began taking samples 15 kilometers offshore on April 2. Radiation levels are higher in the sea to the north of the crippled plant.

The government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says radioactive substances seem to be flowing and diffusing northward.

The agency says predicting the course of the flow is difficult and it will step up monitoring in locations where high radiation levels have been detected, NHK reported.