The latest from Japan's reactor

Out today:

Japan sets new radiation safety level for seafood

And I would hope they would, yes, but it wasn't necessary until now, when water from the Fukushima nuclear reactor started pouring out.

Details: 

By YURI KAGEYAMA and RYAN NAKASHIMA, Associated Press

TOKYO – The government set its first radiation safety standards for fish Tuesday after Japan's tsunami-ravaged nuclear plant reported radioactive contamination in nearby seawater measuring at several million times the legal limit.

The plant operator insisted that the radiation will rapidly disperse and that it poses no immediate danger... 

Naturally.

...but an expert said exposure to the highly concentrated levels near the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant could cause immediate injury and that the leaks could result in residual contamination of the sea in the area. 

But here's the real catch, here's what we need to know and watch:

Experts agree that radiation dissipates quickly in the vast Pacific, but direct exposure to the most contaminated water measured would lead to "immediate injury," said Yoichi Enokida, a professor of materials science at Nagoya University's graduate school of engineering.

He added that seawater may be diluting the iodine, which decays quickly, but the leak also contains long-lasting cesium-137, which can build up in fish over time. Both can build up in fish, though iodine's short half-life means it does not stay there for very long. The long-term effects of cesium, however, will need to be studied, he said.

I think what needs to happen now, and I hope it happens both for scientists learning and education and our own safety, I would hope this radioactive water will be followed somehow, if it's possible, off the coast of Japan, to see if the radioactivity stays there or just how far it does, in fact, travel.

Unfortunate but fascinating stuff.

Link:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110405/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_earthquake