Mark Willacy –
Greenpeace says data from its radiation monitoring in the ocean off Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear plant shows massive levels of contamination in seaweed and other marine life.
The environmental group is warning that both the environment and people are at long-term risk.
After taking samples of fish, shellfish and seaweed collected in the Pacific Ocean, 20 kilometres off Fukushima, Greenpeace sent them for analysis at independent French and Belgian laboratories.
The conservation group says the results show seaweed radiation levels are 50 times higher than official limits, while other marine samples showed high levels of radioactive caesium and iodine.
Greenpeace says it proves radioactivity is accumulating in marine life and not diluting, as claimed by Japanese authorities.
The group criticised Japanese authorities for their “continued inadequate response to the Fukushima nuclear crisis” sparked by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
“Despite what the authorities are claiming, radioactive hazards are not decreasing through dilution or dispersion of materials, but the radioactivity is instead accumulating in marine life,” said Jan Vande Putte, a Greenpeace radiation expert.
Maritime & Travel news 