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"The radiation effects from the Fukushima I nuclear accidents are the results of release of radioactive isotopes from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. The total amount of iodine-131 and caesium-137 released into the atmosphere has been estimated to exceed 10% of the emissions from the Chernobyl accident.[1][2] Large amounts on radioactive isotopes have also been released into the Pacific Ocean. The accidents were rated at level 7 rating on the International Nuclear Event Scale."

"Cesium that has fallen and been disturbed from the ground surface- 10 times more internal exposure compared to direct inhalation - JAEA Analysis Japan Atomic Energy Agency [JAEA] (Toukai Village, Ibaragi Prefecture) compiled analyses showing that the amount of internal exposure to radioactive cesium from particles that had landed on the ground once and then been disturbed and re-floated was 10 times larger than that of inhaling the airborne particles directly. [This study] will be presented on September 22nd at the Japan Atomic Power Conference that's presently being held in Kitakyushuu City. The JAEA Safety Research Center's research fellow Kimura Masanori (Radiological Protection) points out that "an emphasis needs to be placed to prevent re-floating from the ground surface". Using the survey data of TEPCO and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology collected in Minamisouma City, Fukushima Prefecture, the amounts of internal exposure to Iodine-131, Cesium-134 and Cesium-137 caused by airborne particles (March 20-May 19) and that of re-floated particles (April 3-June 4) were calculated."

"A group of Japanese researchers say that a total of 15,000 terabecquerels of radioactive substances is estimated to have been released from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea. Researchers at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Kyoto University and other institutes made the calculation of radioactivity released from late March through April. The combined amount of iodine-131 and cesium-137 is more than triple the figure of 4,720 terabecquerels earlier estimated by Tokyo Electric Power Company, the plant operator. The utility only calculated the radioactivity from substances released from the plant into the sea in April and May. The researchers say the estimated amount of radioactivity includes a large amount that was first released into the air but entered the sea after coming down in the rain. They say they need to determine the total amount of radioactivity released from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant in order to accurately assess the impact of the disaster on the sea."

Tokyo Electric Power Co. succeeded in stopping highly radioactive water from leaking into the Pacific Ocean from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant early Wednesday morning after injecting a chemical agent, it said. In a bid to stem the leak, Tepco injected about 6,000 liters of "water glass," or sodium silicate, and another agent around a seaside pit located near the plant's No. 2 reactor water intake, through which the highly radioactive water had been leaking heavily. The leak has apparently seriously contaminated the marine environment, as a seawater sample taken near the water intake Saturday showed a radioactive iodine-131 concentration of 7.5 million times the maximum level permitted under law.

-With no end in sight to the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Japan's neighbors are increasingly stepping up efforts to curb food imports, both fresh and processed, from parts of Japan. South Korea has temporarily banned vegetables from Fukushima and four other prefectures. In addition, the Seoul government on Thursday announced a new measure that calls for government-issued documents for all food products -- mostly processed foods -- from Tokyo, Miyagi and six other prefectures certifying safe levels of radioactive iodine and cesium. The new requirement takes effect May 1. South Korea is also requesting that products from 34 other prefectures be accompanied by documents identifying their origin. As the Japanese have yet to decide whether to accede to the request, importation of such familiar Japanese products as sake rice wine, snacks and cooking sauces, is expected, in effect, to come to a halt starting next week. Another neighbor, Taiwan, has also prohibited food imports from five prefectures, including Fukushima. In addition, all fresh produce and some processed foods from Japan must be tested for radioactivity when they arrive.

Title of article now represents the minimum percentage that the radiation found in Hawaii is over EPA standards. New EPA milk samples in Hawaii show radiation in milk at 800% above limits for Cs-134, 633% above limits for Cs-137 and 600% above EPA maximum for I-131 for a total of 2033%, or 20.33 times, above the federal drinking water limits. New readings have also been posted for Phoenix AZ with milk being above the federal limit and Los Angeles with milk being slightly below the limit for Iodine. Montpelier VT milk has tested positive for radioactive CS-137, above about 2/3rds the EPA maximum and Spokane WA milk testing less than half the limit for i-131.

The Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan released a preliminary calculation Monday saying that the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant had been releasing up to 10,000 terabecquerels of radioactive materials per hour at some point after a massive quake and tsunami hit northeastern Japan on March 11. The disclosure prompted the government to consider raising the accident's severity level to 7, the worst on an international scale, from the current 5, government sources said. The level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale has only been applied to the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe. The current provisional evaluation of 5 is at the same level as the Three Mile Island accident in the United States in 1979. According to an evaluation by the INES, level 7 accidents correspond with a release into the external environment radioactive materials equal to more than tens of thousands terabecquerels of radioactive iodine 131. One terabecquerel equals 1 trillion becquerels. Haruki Madarame, chairman of the commission, which is a government panel, said it has estimated that the release of 10,000 terabecquerels of radioactive materials per hour continued for several hours.

"Radioactive leakage from fuel rods at a nuclear power plant in the city of Tsuruga in Fukui prefecture on Honshu island of Japan are believed to be the cause of a surge in the density of toxic substances detected in coolant water, the prefectural government said Monday. Japan Atomic Power Company, owner and operator of the potentially faulty nuclear plant, has said it will attempt to manually override the plant's No. 2 reactor's system in an effort to contain the leak and conduct further investigation into its critical cooling systems. The utility firm operating the 1,160-megawatt No.2 reactor at its Tsuruga nuclear plant cited "technical difficulties" at the reactor and while claiming there had been no radiation leak did confirm a possible leak of iodine from the reactor's nuclear fuel assemblies into its coolant system, adding a new saga to the nation's ever-unfolding nuclear crisis."

"Radiation is expected to continue spewing for months from Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that suffered a meltdown following an earthquake and tsunami in March, but despite grim reports from Japan, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has quietly stopped running extra tests for radioactive material in America's milk, rain and drinking water. The EPA initially ramped up nationwide testing in the weeks following the disaster in Japan, and radioactive materials like cesium and iodine-131 were detected on US soil. Citing declining levels of radiation, the EPA has abandoned the extra tests, even as reports from Japan indicate that the Fukushima plant continues to emit radiation and the disaster is one of the worst in world history."

Concentrations of a potentially-harmful nuclear contaminant found in groundwater at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) are well below the federal safety threshold for public drinking water. This finding was released in a report by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), which monitors water quality at the eastern Idaho laboratory on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).