Scientists investigating the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan have found an unexpected source of radioactive material at the site. They found that sands and brackish groundwater up to 97 kilometers (60 miles) away had retained some of the radioactive cesium from the disaster in 2011, and this has been released into the ocean. The findings, led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Using tubes 1 to 2 meters long (3 to 7 feet), they found that cesium levels were 10 times higher in the surrounding sand on eight beaches and groundwater than they were in the seawater in the harbor of the plant itself.
IFL Science 2nd Oct 2017 read more »
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