Sea water off Kukushima has high level of radioactive iodine

March 24th, 2011 - 5:20 pm ICT by IANS  

Moscow, March 24 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Radioactive iodine in seawater near an outlet at the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant has been detected at 147 times the safety limit, the Kyodo news agency reported Thursday.

It was earlier reported that radioactive iodine in sample water, taken at 100 metres from the shoreline in the vicinity of the nuclear reactors, was 29.8 times the permissible limits.

Residents in Tokyo were warned Wednesday not to let infants drink tap water due to high iodine concentrations, but authorities said Thursday the iodine in the water has returned to safe levels.

Experts say there is little chance of the situation at the plant deteriorating to the point that there is an explosion like at Chernobyl in April 1986, and pollution reaching similar levels.

“It is very unlikely that Fukushima would develop into an accident like Chernobyl,” International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Yukiya Amano said.

A powerful earthquake and ensuing tsunami that hit Japan’s east coast March 11 triggered a number of explosions at Fukushima, spreading fears of massive radioactive contamination.

–IANS/RIA Novosti
sd/vt

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