The level of radioactive iodine-131 found in seawater near the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, 240 kilometers northeast from Tokyo, has soared to its highest reading yet at a concentration of 4,385 times the legal limit.


HTML clipboard The damaged Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant in Fukushima is seen in this satellite image, taken and released on March 18, 2011.  (Xinhua/AFP)
Pressure has been mounting for Japanese authorities to expand the 20-kilometer evacuation zone around the stricken six-reactor facility following the continuous leaking of radiation since the March 11 magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami knocked out the plant's critical cooling systems.

The level of iodine-131, reported a few hundred meters south of the facility's southern water outlet, has surged drastically in a series of tests since last week, carried out by beleaguered plant owner and operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO).

Previous readings there showed concentration levels at 1,250 times the legal maximum on Friday, 1,850 times the limit on Saturday and 3,355 times the limit on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for TEPCO said on Thursday the massive spike in radioactive iodine in seawater has been caused by water that has been in contact with nuclear fuel or reactors, but said the means of the contaminated water flowing into the Pacific Ocean were, as yet, unknown.

Deputy Director-General of Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency Hidehiko Nishiyama conceded Thursday that radioactive materials have and continue to be freely leaking into the sea. "We must check that possibility well," said Nishiyama.

Nishiyama said once again that human health in the area was not at imminent risk, although failed to comment on the possible long- term affects of exposure to the radiation in the area.

He also said that as no fishing was being conducted in the area marine life would not be significantly affected, adding that any radioactivity in fish would dissipate before being consumed by people.

But Japan's nuclear safety agency, in light of the new readings and concerns of international nuclear watchdogs, will add three new offshore monitoring stations, to better gauge the rising level of radioactive seawater in the area.


VietNamNet/Xinhuanet