Japan's Ocean Radiation Levels Now 7.5 Million Times Legal Limit Near Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that seawater around Japan's earthquake and tsunami-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant now contains levels of radioactivity equal to 7.5 million times the legal limit.

According to the Times report, seawater radiation levels have been steadily rising since plant operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, began intentionally releasing radiative water into the ocean from its cooling tanks in an effort to control the crisis. The idea behind the move is to make room for more water in the on-site storage tanks that house spent radioactive material while it cools.

Fishing has also been suspended in coastal waters near the plant, and TEPCO has said it will compensate local fishermen, though decisions about to what extent the company may do so have been slow to come.

In an offical statement on their company website, TEPCO sought to quell fears about the effect on the nearby fish population and the effect eating those fish could have on humans:

"We evaluate the impact on the discharge of the low radioactive wastewater to the sea as approximately 0.6 mSv per year per an adult if an adult eats adjacent fish and seaweeds everyday. The amount (0.6 mSv of effective radioactive doses per year) is one-forth of annual radioactive dose to which the general public is exposed from nature."

Read the full L.A. Times article on the worsening crisis by clicking on the following link:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-japan-nuclear-20110406,0,2697428.story