Plutonium that may have come from a reactor core at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant was detected in soil on the premises, indicating fuel rods suffered heavy damage, Tokyo Electric Power Co. has revealed.
Although Tepco said late Monday the amount detected, based on soil samples taken a week ago, is extremely small and not enough to harm human health, the latest finding indicated not just heavy damage to fuel rods but also that strong radioactive materials may be leaking from at least one reactor containment vessel.
A Tepco spokesman told reporters Tuesday the utility will continue to monitor plutonium levels in the soil in the plant but has no plans to expand its checks to beyond the premises for the time being.
“Plutonium is emitted only when the temperature (inside a reactor’s core) is really high. That shows how badly (the fuel rods) were damaged and how serious this accident is,” Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency official Hidehiko Nishiyama said Tuesday. “Still, the amount is not an immediate threat to human health.”
According to Tepco, the plutonium levels were around the same as those detected in Japan after the United States and the Soviet Union conducted nuclear tests in the past.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110330a1.html
Radioactive material originating from the troubled Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan has been detected at various sites in the UK – almost 6,000 miles away.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) said Tuesday that an air sampler in Glasgow had recorded the presence of radioactive iodine 131 associated with events at the quake-stricken Fukushima nuclear facility. However, radiation levels were “extremely low” and should not cause any concern amongst the public.
The measured radiation level of 300 micro-becquerels per cubic metre is much lower than the natural background radiation dose in the UK and poses no harm.
The measurements were consistent with those made at other stations including one in Oxfordshire as well as locations across Europe such as Iceland and Switzerland.
The UK’s Health Protection Agency (HPA) confirmed the current radiation levels were safe. “The dose received from inhaling air with these measured levels of iodine 131 is minuscule and would be very much less than the annual background radiation dose”, the agency said in a statement. However, it added that levels of radioactive iodine “may rise in the coming days and weeks” – but clarified the concentration would still be significantly below any level that would pose a health risk.
Seoul, South Korea, March 29, 2011 /WNCNews/ – Nuclear radiation from Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan continues to expand. After the Chinese authorities found traces of nuclear radiation from Fukushima, Japan in some areas in China, traces of radioactive iodine were also found in Seoul and other areas in South Korea.
Even, South Korean authorities have also begun to conduct examination to the fish caught in waters of the country.
The Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS) claimed to have detected traces of iodine-131 in Seoul and seven other places in South Korea. According to the South Korean agency, the amount of radioactivity which was found is very small so that it does not pose a risk to public health or the environment.
South Korean authorities have begun to examine the fish that were caught in to ensure the possibility of nuclear radiation contamination.
“No traces of radiation found so far in our fish or fish imported from Japan,” said a South Korean Agriculture Ministry official told AFP news agency on Tuesday (3/29).
He said that the South Korean government is currently testing the fish once a week. But, the frequency will be increased if the nuclear crisis in Japan continues to deteriorate.
http://www.worldnewsco.com/5148/nuclear-radiation-from-japan-also-detected-in-south-korea/
Small amounts of radiation from Japan’s leaking Fukushima nuclear plant have spread across Asia.
But authorities say the traces are so small they pose no risk to human health.
The governments of China, South Korea, the Philippines and Vietnam have all reported that radiation from the Fukushima plant has drifted over their territories.
Traces have even drifted all the way to the United States, with rainwater in Ohio found to have been contaminated.
Each government says there is no risk at all to human health due to the low levels.
Chinese authorities have turned away a Japanese ship after detecting abnormal levels of radiation onboard.
http://australianetworknews.com/stories/201103/3177073.htm?desktop
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