Fukushima Plant Admits Radioactive Water Leaking To Sea

Fukushima I nuclear power plant before the 2011 explosion. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A Japanese utility said Monday its crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is likely leaking contaminated water into sea, acknowledging for the first time a problem long suspected by experts.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, also came under fire Monday for not disclosing earlier that the number of plant workers with thyroid radiation exposures exceeding threshold levels for increased cancer risks was 10 times what it said released earlier.

The delayed announcements underscored the criticisms the company has faced over the Fukushima crisis. TEPCO has been repeatedly blamed for overlooking early signs, and covering up or delaying the disclosure of problems and mishaps.

Company spokesman Masayuki Ono told a regular news conference that plant officials have come to believe that radioactive water that leaked from the wrecked reactors is likely to have seeped into the underground water system and escaped into sea. Read more >>

South Korea Bans Imports of 35 Japanese Seafood Products

A seafood stall at a market in Seoul, South korea 

voanews.com
South Korea has placed a temporary import ban on 35 Japanese seafood products because of fears of lingering radiation contamination from last year's devastating nuclear disaster.

Seoul's Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries says the ban is a temporary measure meant to protect South Korean citizens from products originating from the waters near the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

The plant located off the northeast coast of Japan was crippled last March by a massive earthquake and tsunami, causing a partial meltdown and releasing potentially dangerous radiation over a wide area.
Radiation levels in seafood from Fukushima have been declining slowly, but most fisheries products from the affected region are still prohibited from being sold. The products that have been cleared for sale have so far been received tentatively by potential buyers.

The items banned Wednesday by South Korea include several types of flatfish, clams and sea urchins, products that are already prohibited from sale in Japan. With the latest move, Seoul now prohibits a total of 64 Japanese seafood items from entering South Korea.