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Environment
High-Level Radioactive Cesium Detected in Kashiwa, Near Tokyo
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Tokyo- (PanOrient News) Officials of Kashiwa city in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, said Saturday they found a high level of radioactive cesium in soil of city-owned land.
The officials told local media they will conduct a full-scale check with the science ministry on Monday to identify the cause of the contamination. The ministry, meanwhile, didn't rule out the possibility that the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant is the source of the radiation.
Up to 276,000 becquerels of cesium per kilogram of soil was detected 30 centimeters below the surface on Friday after an abnormal level of airborne radiation was found earlier in the week.
This new hot spot was found by a resident strolling in the area carrying a dosimeter. After he notified the authorities, officials of Kashiwa city and Chiba Prefecture took their own measurements and recorded 57.5 microsieverts per hour.
Calls are mounting on the Japanese government to set radiation decontamination measures following a spate of discoveries of radiation "hot spots" in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
Tokyo's Adachi Ward detected a level of radiation of 3.99 microsieverts per hour next to the machinery room of an elementary school pool on Oct. 17, following measurements taken independently by a resident.
PanOrient News
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