Fish with very high levels of cesium found near Fukushima

[Oscar]

Fish with very high levels of cesium found near Fukushima

----- Original Message -----
From: Gordon Edwards
Sent: Tuesday, January 14, 2014 1:06 PM
Subject: Fish with very high levels of cesium found near Fukushima

Background:

Cesium is chemically similar to potassium. Fish and animals that ingest cesium tend to store it up in their soft tissues and in their blood -- just as they do with potassium.

Radioactive cesium does not exist in nature -- it is only created when uranium atoms are split (or "fissioned") inside an atomic bomb or a nuclear reactor. The natural background level of radioactive cesium is therefore ZERO. It is a man-made pollutant.

There is no such thing as a "safe" level of radioactive cesium, just as there is no such thing as a safe level of asbestos or cigarette smoke. The "standards" for radioactive cesium in food are arbitrary levels set by government agencies. They represent a compromise -- how many cancers and other diseases are to be considered "acceptable" in exchange for the "benefits" of nuclear energy?

As in the case of cancer-causing chemicals, there is no level of exposure to radioactive cesium that is safe; when a large population is exposed to even a very low dose, an increase in cancer incidence will result. The number of cancers triggered in any exposed population is proportional to the "population dose" -- the sum total of all the individual exposures. Which individuals end up with those pollution-caused cancers is mainly a matter of chance. It's like a lottery in reverse -- instead of getting a monetary prize some unlucky devils get cancer.

However, in the case of radioactive pollutants, the standards that are set are very much more permissive (in other words, more cancers are considered allowable) than for any of the known non-radioactive chemical carcinogens.

Gordon Edwards, President
Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility
www.ccnr.org

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Fish with very high levels of cesium found near Fukushima

[ http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disast ... 1401110029 ]

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN, January 11, 2014

A fish contaminated with extremely high levels of radiation was found in waters near the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, a government-affiliated research institute said.

The Fisheries Research Agency said Jan. 10 the black sea bream had 12,400 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium, 124 times the safety standards for foodstuffs.

The fish was caught at the mouth of the Niidagawa river in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, on Nov. 17. The site is 37 kilometers south of the stricken power plant.

It was one of 37 fish-–all black sea bream--that researchers caught in waters in and off Iwaki in October and November to study the level of radiation to which they were exposed.

The research institute said it will study the fish further to try and determine when it became contaminated with such high levels of radioactive cesium.

Two other fish also exceeded the safety standards of 100 becquerels per kilogram, at 426 becquerels and 197 becquerels, respectively.

The readings of the remaining 34 fish were within the safety limits, according to the Fisheries Research Agency.

Officials said black sea bream in the region that was covered by the recent study have not been circulated as food in fish markets.

Black sea bream fishing in coastal waters off Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures is currently restricted.

They are also on the list of fish that local fishermen are asked to voluntarily refrain from catching in the northern municipalities of Ibaraki Prefecture, which is located just south of Fukushima Prefecture.