High radiation detected in fish off Fukushima

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says it has detected radiation 380 times the government safety limit in a fish caught off Fukushima Prefecture. Tokyo Electric Power Company is measuring radiation exposure in fish and shellfish caught within 20 kilometers of the troubled plant from March this year. The company caught 20 kinds of fish and shellfish at 5 locations from mid-July to early August, Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK World) reported. The utility says it detected 38,000 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium in a rock trout caught about 1 kilometer off Minamisoma City on August 1st. The level is 380 times the government safety limit, and the highest so far in the firm’s surveys in the area. The previous high was 18.8 times. The operator also says it found radioactive cesium exceeding the safety limit in 9 kinds of fish and shellfish. In June, fishing more than 50 kilometers northeast of the plant resumed on a trial basis for 2 kinds of octopus and one kind of shellfish. But fishing has not resumed for rock trout and other fish in which radiation was detected in the latest surveys. Tokyo Electric says it will survey the same area from next week until the end of September to study rock trout, their prey such as shrimps, and mud from the seabed.