NOAA Lists Artic Seals as Endangered - Fukushima Radiation Underlying Reason?

Ocean still suffering from Fukushima fallout

Continuing leaks and contaminated sediment keep radiation levels high.

[...]

New data presented at a conference held on 12–13 November at the University of Tokyo show that levels of radioactivity in the sea around the plant remain stable, rather than falling as expected. Researchers believe that run-off from rivers, as well as continued leaks from the plant, may be partially to blame. But contaminated sediment and marine organisms also seem to be involved.

[...]

The Fukushima disaster caused by far the largest discharge of radioactivity into the ocean ever seen. A new model presented by scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts estimates that 16.2 petabecquerels (1015 becquerels) of radioactive caesium leaked from the plant — roughly the same amount that went into the atmosphere.

[...] in the region of the ocean near the plant, levels of caesium-137 have remained fixed at around 1,000 becquerels, a relatively high level compared to the natural background. Similarly, levels of radioactive caesium in bottom-dwelling fish remain pretty much unchanged more than 18 months after the accident.

Researchers at the conference are convinced that something is preventing the radiation levels from dropping. “There must be a source,” says Scott Fowler, an oceanographer at Stony Brook University in New York.

In fact, a fresh analysis by oceanographer Jota Kanda at the Tokyo University of Marine Science [estimates] the plant itself is leaking around 0.3 terabecquerels [0.3 trillion becquerels] per month [...]

[link to www.nature.com]

[link to enenews.com]

Title: Tokyo Bay Contamination More Serious than Fukushima Offing
Source: NHK
Date Aired: Jan 15, 2012
Date Published: Nov 4, 2012
Translated by: guardianofmiyagi

[link to enenews.com]