Fukushima Daiichi: Cesium-137 and Iodine-131 levels in seawater near plant high but decreasing

Radiation measurements Saturday March 26 reported by IAEA

330 m east of the discharge points of Units 1 – 4.

74 000 Bq/liter of iodine-131

12 000 Bq/liter of cesium-137

12 000 Bq/liter of cesium-134

Radiation measurements Sunday March 27 reported by IAEA

330 m east of the discharge points of Units 1 – 4.

11 000 Bq/liter of iodine-131

1 900 Bq/liter of cesium-137

NHK reports that MEXT has been collecting seawater samples at 4 locations 30 kilometers off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture since March 23rd. The latest data are for March 27.

1.5 to 3.9 Bq/liter of cesium-137  – Sunday March 27

5.4 to 15 Bq/liter of iodine-131 – Sunday March 27

The amounts represent 1,000 to 2,600 times the levels measured in the same area 2 years ago.

But the current levels are only one-fifth to one-tenth of those detected on March 23rd.

What does this mean

For comparison the radioactivity of coffee is about 1000 Bq/kg.  The long term risk is that some organisms can concentrate these radioactive substances, especially cesium-137 which has a half life of about 30 years.

Geoff Zeiss

Geoff Zeiss

Geoff Zeiss has more than 20 years experience in the geospatial software industry and 15 years experience developing enterprise geospatial solutions for the utilities, communications, and public works industries. His particular interests include the convergence of BIM, CAD, geospatial, and 3D. In recognition of his efforts to evangelize geospatial in vertical industries such as utilities and construction, Geoff received the Geospatial Ambassador Award at Geospatial World Forum 2014. Currently Geoff is Principal at Between the Poles, a thought leadership consulting firm. From 2001 to 2012 Geoff was Director of Utility Industry Program at Autodesk Inc, where he was responsible for thought leadership for the utility industry program. From 1999 to 2001 he was Director of Enterprise Software Development at Autodesk. He received one of ten annual global technology awards in 2004 from Oracle Corporation for technical innovation and leadership in the use of Oracle. Prior to Autodesk Geoff was Director of Product Development at VISION* Solutions. VISION* Solutions is credited with pioneering relational spatial data management, CAD/GIS integration, and long transactions (data versioning) in the utility, communications, and public works industries. Geoff is a frequent speaker at geospatial and utility events around the world including Geospatial World Forum, Where 2.0, MundoGeo Connect (Brazil), Middle East Spatial Geospatial Forum, India Geospatial Forum, Location Intelligence, Asia Geospatial Forum, and GITA events in US, Japan and Australia. Geoff received Speaker Excellence Awards at GITA 2007-2009.

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