nuclear-news

Radiation around Fukushima still at uinhabitable levels

Radiation still high around Fukushima No. 1 http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120226a5.html Japan Times, , Feb. 26, 2012, Kyodo High levels of radiation, including a rate of 470 millisieverts per year at one location, have been detected in municipalities near the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, according to an interim Environment Ministry report. A survey conducted from Nov. 7 to Jan. 16 showed that the readings topped 50 millisieverts on an annual basis — a level deemed uninhabitable under a proposed new classification — in many spots north-northwest of the crippled power station.

The highest level of 470 millisieverts was logged northwest of the
plant at a spot in Futaba, Fukushima Prefecture, while the lowest
level of 5.8 millisieverts was detected in another part of the same
town, the ministry said.

The results were similar to those of an earlier science ministry
survey that used aircraft. The Environment Ministry plans to compile a
final report on the survey by the end of March.

The government will use the data to reclassify the exclusion zone and
the zone where people have been on evacuation alert into three
categories in April.

The first category will be uninhabitable areas with annual radiation
levels of 50 millisieverts or more.

The second will cover areas with levels between 20 and 50
millisieverts where access will be limited.

The third will designate areas with levels below 20 millisieverts
where residents will be allowed to return in stages.

Meanwhile, the Environment Ministry said that high levels of
radioactive cesium have been detected in ash and firewood in eight
prefectures in the Tohoku and Kanto regions, with the highest reading
— 240,000 becquerels per kilogram — measured in ash from a household
in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture. The survey on ash and firewood
from 65 households also found a reading of 163,000 becquerels of
cesium in ash from a household in Kawamata, Fukushima Prefecture.

Under current regulations, waste with radiation levels exceeding
100,000 becquerels must be kept at a disposal site and sealed with
reinforced concrete to keep out rainwater.

February 27, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, Japan