Radiation found beyond Japan no-go zone
Press TV – October 5, 2011
A recent study says that high levels of soil contamination with radioactive cesium have been detected near Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
An independent survey conducted on September 14 by a radiological engineering expert and citizens’ groups revealed that some 307,000 becquerels of cesium per kilogram (2.2 pounds) of soil was found near central Fukushima city, located about 60 kilometers (35 miles) away from the plant, AFP reported on Wednesday.
The amount is three times over the benchmark determined by the Japanese government as the legal limit is 10,000 becquerels per kilogram.
Tomoya Yamauchi — professor and radiation expert at Kobe University, who was in charge of the study — examined soil samples from five locations in the Fukushima city.
Yamauchi found the level of radioactive caesium in one location had increased five times from three months earlier.
He added that the whole area was so contaminated that it would be necessary to remove not only the topsoil but also the road surfaces, asphalts, roofs and concrete walls.
The finding has prompted calls on Tokyo to designate the affected section of Fukushima city an official hot spot, and make the area a voluntary evacuation zone.
“We are urging the central and local governments to have children and expecting mothers evacuated from the areas,” said Takeshi Sakagami, a member of Citizens against Fukushima Aging Nuclear Power Plants.
Sakagami said his group was calling on authorities to at least designate the area as a non-mandatory evacuation zone due to the level of contamination.
The Fukushima plant has leaked radiation into air, soil and the Pacific Ocean ever since it was hit by a 9-magnitude earthquake and a devastating tsunami on March 11.
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