Fukushima radiation 'mostly fell in sea': study 
 
 TOKYO — Most of the radioactive fallout from the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant dropped into the ocean and began circling the planet, Japanese researchers said Thursday. 
 
 Up to 80 percent of the caesium released by the Fukushima Daiichi power plant landed in the Pacific and made its way into other oceans around the world, scientists at the Meteorological Research Institute said. 
 
 "The rest has fallen on land" in and around Fukushima, said Hiroshi Takahashi, a researcher at the institute in Ibaraki, northeast of Tokyo. 
 
 "The results mean the ocean was more contaminated than land, although recent data have shown that ocean pollution resulting from the accident was well below levels affecting humans," Takahashi said. 
 
 Researchers say the radioactive materials, including caesium-137, an isotope with a half-life of more than 30 years, were widely dispersed when they entered the oceans and each particle would measure less than one micrometer -- one seventh the size of a human red blood cell. 
 
 Using computer simulations, they calculate the material was first blown northeast over eastern Russia and Alaska, before falling into the Pacific and reaching the western coast of the mainland United States around March 17, Takahashi said. 
 
 The materials were believed to have completed their first around-the-globe trip by March 24, he said, adding that the results would be presented to an academic meeting in Nagoya, central Japan. 
 
 Several previous studies, including one produced in France last month, have concluded the fallout had been hugely diluted by ocean currents and, except for near-shore species, posed no discernible threat. 
 
 Japan has been on alert for the impact of radiation since an earthquake and resulting tsunami struck the northeast of the country on March 11, crippling the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. 
 
 Its cooling systems were knocked offline and reactors were sent into meltdown, resulting in the leaking of radiation into the air, oceans and food chain. 
 
 Copyright © 2013 AFP. All rights reserved. More » 

 Japan bans Fukushima rice for radiation 
 
 TOKYO — Japan on Thursday announced its first ban on rice produced near the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant after samples showed radioactive contamination well above legal limits. 
 
 The findings will further worry nervous consumers, already fretting over the safety of domestic produce, despite its previous solid safety reputation. 
 
 Authorities in Fukushima prefecture say rice produced near the stricken atomic power plant contained caesium they measured at 630 becquerels per kilogram (2.2 pounds). The government safety limit is 500 becquerels. 
 
 Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura ordered Fukushima Governor Yuhei Sato to restrict shipments of rice from Onami -- from where the samples were sourced -- according to an agricultural ministry official. 
 
 "This restriction won't be lifted until safety of the rice produced in the area can be confirmed," the official said, adding that the ban will affect 154 farms that produced 192 tonnes of rice this year. 
 
 It is the first ban on rice shipments since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was damaged by a massive quake and tsunami on March 11, when cooling systems failed and radiation was spewed into the air, oceans and food chain. 
 
 While the natural disaster claimed 20,000 lives, the nuclear emergency has recorded no direct casualties, but it has badly dented the reputation of a technology on which Japan previously depended for a third of its electricity. 
 
 Bans on food following the crisis are nothing new but rice -- eaten three times a day in many homes -- holds a special place in the Japanese heart. 
 
 Japanese-grown grain is widely held to be superior to imports, and is heavily protected by massive tariffs aimed partially at propping up the nation's ageing farmers. 
 
 The polluted samples were taken at a farm in Onami, 57 kilometres (35 miles) northwest of the troubled plant. 
 
 None of the 840 kilogrammes of rice produced at the farm this year has been shipped to markets, local officials said. 
 
 The price of rice produced before the disaster temporarily shot up in the summer as people rushed to stock up over fears this year's harvest would be contaminated. Prices have since stabilised. 
 
 A team of international researchers this week said elevated levels of caesium in soil in the region would "severely impair" food production in eastern Fukushima. 
 
 The study, published in the US-based Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, suggested farming in neighbouring areas could also suffer because of radiation. 
 
 Shipments of a number of farm products from affected regions were halted as the crisis unfolded and even those that were not subject to official controls have found little favour with Japanese consumers wary of the potential health effects. 
 
 Environmental campaign group Greenpeace said Thursday it had detected radiation in fish sold at Japanese supermarkets, although radiation levels were still well below the government safety limit of 500 becquerels. 
 
 According to its own research carried out between October 12 and November 8 in eastern Japan, 47.3 becquerels of cesium per kilogramme were discovered in cod while traces of radiation were also found in other fish, including tuna. 
 
 Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
– Some 80% of the radiation from Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi plant ended up in the sea, where it’s now spread worldwide, a report finds. Fortunately, data suggests “ocean pollution resulting from the accident was well below levels affecting humans,” a researcher tells AFP. Radiation—some of which has a 30-year half-life—spread across the Pacific and hit the western shores of the US in mid-March. A week later, the radioactive materials had completed a trip around the globe. The other 20%of the radiation ended up on land around the power plant, prompting a new ban on local rice, AFP notes. Radioactive cesium in the rice has been found to far exceed government safety standards. More than 150 farms producing some 200 tons of rice have been slapped with the ban, and it “won't be lifted until safety of the rice produced in the area can be confirmed,” says an official.