Radiation levels at Fukushima plant increases to 800% of government standard

Radiation levels at Fukushima plant increases to 800% of government standard

(NaturalNews) Radiation at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant has now
exceeded more than eight times the radiation limit set by the Japanese
government - presenting new concerns for problems that many say are
exacerbating.

The largely government-owned Tokyo Electric Power
Company (TEPCO) admitted that radiation levels had elevated to an
estimated 8 millisieverts per year (mSv/y) outside of the Fukushima No. 1
nuclear plant in December.

This greatly eclipses the Japanese
government-set limit of 1 mSv/y, put in place as part of the
officially-sanctioned reactor decommissioning plan for the
disaster-stricken nuclear plant as a safety measure to diminish the
level of harmful effects on the surrounding areas so that the exclusion
zone can eventually be lifted.

According to NHK, Japan's public
broadcaster, the plant was measuring at below the required 1 mSv/y
benchmark back in March 2013, but the increasing emission of beta-rays
from the contaminated water, and particularly strontium-90, stored in
above-ground tanks was spiking these levels. However, the Asahi Shimbun reported that a very high level of 7.8 mSv/y was recorded back in May 2013.

Official
media accounts blamed the approximately 1,000 above-ground storage
tanks, explaining that the metal tank containers reportedly amplify the
beta-rays to create stronger X-rays and, thus, higher readings.

Asahi
carried this account of the official explanation: "Beta rays released
from radioactive strontium and other substances in the water reacted
with iron and other elements in the storage tank containers to generate
the X-rays, the officials said."