Setagaya Radiation Unrelated
To Nuclear Crisis:
Gov't
Japanese Nuclear Meltdown
EMF Radiation Protection
Magnetic Field Meters
(Kyodo) -- A high radiation dose detected in Tokyo's
Setagaya Ward on Thursday is probably due to radium and
unrelated to the nuclear crisis at the crippled, radioactive
cesium-leaking Fukushima Daiichi power plant, the education
ministry said.
The
announcement following a probe by the Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sports, Science and Technology came after Nobuto
Hosaka, mayor of the ward, said the radiation did not appear
to be linked to the nuclear crisis in Fukushima,
northeastern Japan.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20111014p2g00m0dm019000c.html
Hosaka made
the comment at a news conference in reference to an
investigation conducted by ward officials after airborne
radiation of up to 3.35 microsieverts per hour was recorded
earlier in the day along a sidewalk in a residential area in
an inspection commissioned by the ward.
The
investigation detected high radiation levels near bottles
under the floor of a house in the Tsurumaki district, Hosaka
said.
The
discovery of high radiation doses added fuel to public
health concerns as a citizens' group detected up to 5.82
microsieverts close to the ground at a children's theme park
in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo.
The detected
radiation levels in Funabashi and Setagaya, which are 210
and 230 kilometers away, respectively, from the Fukushima
Daiichi nuclear plant, were higher than the 2.17
microsieverts per hour measured Wednesday at the village
office in Iitate, Fukushima. The village is 45 kilometers
from the plant and designated as an evacuation zone due to
the relatively high radiation.
In an
apparent attempt to calm public concerns over the recent
spate of discoveries of contaminated spots in the Kanto
area, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said Thursday
the government will continue to step up nationwide
monitoring as well as consider more necessary measures.
After
learning of the findings at the H.C. Andersen Park,
officials in Funabashi began checking radiation levels in
the park and the affected area was made off limits by its
operator. While the contaminated spot is located in an area
where accumulated rainwater flows in and is not normally
accessed by park visitors, the officials are still examining
where the radiation has resulted from.
In Setagaya,
radiation of up to 3.35 microsieverts per hour was recorded
at a height of 1 meter along the sidewalk in Tsurumaki.
Ward
officials took samples of tree leaves over the board fence
of the home in question to investigate what type of
radioactive material is involved.
They are
also trying to work out how to decontaminate the sidewalk,
which is regularly used by students at an elementary school.
The area has been cordoned off as a precautionary measure.
The finding
comes following Wednesday's media reports that a high
reading of 2.71 microsieverts per hour was detected there
earlier this month and that radioactive strontium exceeding
normal quantities has been found in sediment atop an
apartment building in Yokohama's Kohoku Ward, some 250 km
away from the nuclear plant.
The reading
of 3.35 microsieverts means that if a person were to stay
close to the contaminated spot for an entire year, spending
eight hours each day outdoors and the rest inside a wooden
house, their cumulative annual radiation dose could reach
about 17 millisieverts, compared with the government-set
allowable limit of 20 millisieverts a year.
(Mainichi Japan) October 14, 2011
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