Tokyo, December 02: The operator of Japan’s damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant has detected high levels of radioactive caesium in the seabed of the port where the plant is located.
The Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) recorded the highest concentration of radioactive caesium in an area just south of the water intakes for reactors, Kyodo News Agency reported.
The utility attributed the deposits to the leak of highly radioactive water into the sea in April, following the nuclear emergency at the plant.
A destructive 9-magnitude earthquake and an ensuing tsunami struck Japan’s northern coasts on March 11, setting off a nuclear crisis by knocking out power to cooling systems of reactors at the Fukushima plant and causing radioactive leaks.
Before the earthquake, radioactive substances were hardly detectable in most areas.
On November 18, the Japan Times reported that large areas of eastern and northeastern Japan were probably contaminated with concentrations of caesium-137.
Caesium has a half-life of about 30 years and presents a high health risk in case of radiation leaks.
——Agencies