Radioactive Cesium Levels at Fukushima Jump 9,000 % In Three Days

July 24, 2013

24 Jul (Natural News) –  Some of the highest levels of ionizing radiation yet detected since the disaster first occurred were recently recorded at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility in Japan, according to shocking new reports. The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which runs the crippled nuclear plant, says levels of radioactive cesium in a water well were 9,000 percent higher on July 8, 2013, than they were three days earlier, and nobody knows why this is  the case.  The Asahi Shimbun reports that TEPCO observed the spike after testing water in a well on the seaward side of Fukushima’s No. 2 reactor.  According to readings taken, radioactive cesium levels registered at an  astounding 27,000 becquerels per liter (Bq/l), which is the highest ever since  March 11, 2011, when the tsunami and earthquake first struck the plant. At this  point, the cause of the spike is still unknown.

“It is unclear whether  the radioactive water is leaking into the sea,” said a TEPCO official, following  the discovery. “After gathering needed data, we will conduct analyses.”

waterAs you may recall, radioactive water from the No. 2 well was found to have been leaking about a month after the disaster struck in April  2011. At that time, about 9,000 Bq/l of cesium-134 and 18,000 Bq/l of cesium-137  were detected in water samples. These amounts are 150 and 200 times higher,  respectively, than the maximum level legally permitted.
At the same time,  levels of other harmful forms of radiation, including strontium, have remained  oddly consistent, which has many officials scratching their heads. According to  the most recent data, radioactive strontium levels remained mostly steady around  890,000 Bq/l both before and after the cesium  spike.

“We do not know why only cesium levels have risen,” added the  TEPCO official.

RADIOACTIVE TRITIUM LEVELS ARE ALSO SPIKING DRAMATICALLY, SAY OFFICIALS

Besides cesium, radioactive tritium has also been detected in significantly  higher amounts near the No. 2 well. According to The Wall Street Journal  (WSJ), tritium levels in groundwater near the reactor have jumped 17-fold since  December, and are continuing to rise with each passing day. Since May, tritium  levels have increased a staggering 20 percent.

 “[T]he tritium level that  TEPCO measured on July 5 in one of its coastal monitoring wells near reactor No.  2 is ten times above Japan’s safety standard of 60,000 becquerels per liter, and  rising,” writes Phred Dvorak for the WSJ. “That’s the highest such level the  company has recorded since the incident.”

What this all suggests, of  course, is that the Fukushima disaster is far  from over, and may only be in the early stages of unleashing massive  environmental destruction. Despite the fact that more than two years have passed  since the disaster’s onset, the situation appears to be intensifying with no end  in sight, which could lead to much more serious problems in the  future.
Meanwhile, as much as 93 billion becquerels of radioactive  substances are believed to still be pouring into the Pacific Ocean every single  day as a result of the Fukushima disaster. Reports from back in March indicate  that, since the disaster, a total of 16.1 trillion becquerels of just cesium-137  are believed to have leaked into seawater.

 “Once again, TEPCO release the  bad news in a drip, drip, drip mode,” wrote one commenter on an ENENews.com report on the issue. “These destroyed nuclear reactors are  going to pop and sputter for thousands of years to come. Changes in the  configuration of residual melted fuel remaining in and around the plants will  create ongoing criticalities, with changing cooling water and groundwater  flows.”