Japan is defending its massive dump of radiation-contaminated water from its disabled nuclear plant into the sea, denying the disposal poses any immediate health problems or violates international maritime law.
Radioactivity at levels several million times the legal limit were detected in the ocean near the Fukushima plant on Tuesday, where technicians are pumping thousands of tons of less tainted water into the sea.
Japanese Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto said Tuesday that Japan had done everything to minimize the contamination of the ocean and promised to inform the international community of its decisions in accordance with UN regulations.
Seoul concerned
South Korea, which lies due west of Japan, has said it is concerned that the release of thousands of tons of water carrying high radiation levels could reach its shores.
The Tokyo Electric Power Company that operates the plant said radioactive iodine was measured Saturday at 7.5 million times the legal limit in the sea near the nuclear power plant. Another measurement Monday morning found levels at 5 million times the legal limit.
TEPCO said 2,800 tons of radioactive water had been pumped into the sea from a temporary storage facility by Tuesday morning. The company plans to empty 10,000 tons of water from the tank to make room for water that is much more highly contaminated and preventing repair work at the plant.
Another 1,500 tons is being pumped from two nearby buildings.
Radioactive fish
The government also says elevated levels of radioactivity have been detected for the first time in edible fish south of the plant. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the government has established an allowable standard for radioactivity in fish and seafood equal to that for vegetables, effective immediately.
Radioactivity levels in waters near the plant are many times higher than levels detected a week ago, when it became clear that highly radioactive water was leaking from the plant.
The intense contamination is believed to be coming from a cracked maintenance pit next to the number two reactor, which has filled with water after weeks of efforts to keep nuclear fuel rods in the plant's six units from overheating. Repeated efforts to seal the leak have failed.
Latest effort
In the latest effort Tuesday, plant workers said they would inject liquid glass into the soil around the pit. They also are discussing a plan to block the contamination from spreading in the sea by surrounding it with curtain-like screens.
Concern about TEPCO's troubles drove share prices in the power utility below an all-time low recorded in 1951.
The highly contaminated water in the basements of several of the plant's six reactors is preventing workers from replacing and repairing the pumps that run the plant's critical cooling systems. Officials said late Monday that they have asked Russia to send a special radiation treatment ship to help dispose of some of the water.
General Electric's Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt, whose company designed parts of the Fukushima plant, said Monday that 1,000 engineers from GE and its partner, Hitachi, are working to help mitigate the disaster.
The nuclear crisis has distracted attention from the enormous job of helping survivors from the March 11 quake and tsunami, which washed away whole towns and villages along Japan's northeastern coast. More than 27,500 people are dead or missing, while almost 160,000 people are living in temporary shelters.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.