Radioactivity levels soar in Japan seawater

[spanone]

TOKYO — Radioactivity levels are soaring in seawater near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant, Japan's nuclear safety agency said on Saturday, two weeks after the nuclear power plant was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami.

Even as engineers tried to pump puddles of radioactive water from the power plant 150 miles north of Tokyo, the nuclear safety agency said tests on Friday showed radioactive iodine had spiked 1,250 times higher than normal in the seawater just offshore the plant.

A senior official from Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, Hidehiko Nishiyama, said the contamination posed little risk to aquatic life.

Despite that reassurance, the disclosure may well heighten international concern over Japanese seafood exports. Several countries have already banned milk and produce from areas around the Fukushima Daiichi plant, while others have been monitoring Japanese seafood."Ocean currents will disperse radiation particles and so it will be very diluted by the time it gets consumed by fish and seaweed," he said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42280076/ns/world_news-asiapacific/

[Botany]

1. They are lying

"Ocean currents will disperse radiation particles and so it will be very diluted by the time it gets consumed by fish and seaweed," he said.

Biological Magnification -- Refers to the process whereby certain substances such as pesticides or heavy metals move up the food chain,
work their way into rivers or lakes, and are eaten by aquatic organisms such as fish, which in turn are eaten by large birds, animals or
humans. The substances become concentrated in tissues or internal organs as they move up the chain.

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_biological_magnification#ixzz1HiPArSXa

[crickets]

4. You're right, they are lying.

Depending on what the particles are, they may disperse far and wide, but they are still there. Some of the particles with a shorter half life may not be around long, but once ingested by sea life the effect will start working its way up the food chain nonetheless. And the particles with a very long half life? Sigh.

[Kolesar]

2. Hey, aren't those whalers about due back in port? eom

[mopinko]

3. i'm shocked, shocked i tell you.

:eyes:

[Urban Prairie]

5. I posted about radioactive runoff from hosing those reactors with tons of water

About a week ago.

Someone tried to explain to me how the sea/freshwater couldn't possibly become radioactive