
46 The Fukushima 2011 Disaster
trillion Bq of total water release, including 2,800 trillion Bq of iodine-131,
940 trillion Bq of cesium-134, 940 trillion Bq of cesium-137, as well
as minor amounts of technetium-99m, tellurium-129m, barium-140
and lanthanum-140 (Wikipedia 2011a). Peak ocean discharges of
radionuclides were recorded in early April followed by a 1,000-fold
decrease in May; however concentrations through the end of July
remained higher than expected, suggesting continued releases from
the reactors or other contaminated sources such as groundwater or
coastal sediments (Buesseler et al., 2011). By July, levels of cesium-137
were ...