News in Brief Environment

Radioactive material from Fukushima disaster turns up in a surprising place

Some of highest levels of cesium-137 contamination are in groundwater under nearby sandy beaches

Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant

RADIOACTIVITY DETECTIVES  The Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, shown in the background here in 2016, was damaged in 2011 by an earthquake and tsunami. A new study shows that a surprising amount of the plant’s leaked radioactive waste has made its way into groundwater underneath nearby beaches.

ArtwayPics

By Laurel Hamers

- More than 2 years ago

Six years after the Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster in Japan, radioactive material is leaching into the Pacific Ocean from an unexpected place.