Radioactive strontium detected in 10 prefectures

Radioactive strontium, thought to have been released following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster last year, has been detected in 10 prefectures across Japan, the government said Wednesday.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology confirmed that small amounts of radioactive strontium have been detected in Akita, Iwate, Yamagata, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa Prefectures, as well as in Tokyo, Fuji TV reported.

The ministry said that the highest detected level was in Ibaraki where readings of 6 becquerels per square meter were detected. A ministry spokesman was quoted as saying that radiation at this level has a negligible effect on human health, Fuji reported.

The government’s findings come weeks after the Tokyo Shimbun reported the Koto Association for the Protection of Children held a press conference in the Tokyo metropolitan government building on June 7, to announced the results of a survey it carried out, which showed high levels of radioactive cesium in an athletic ground near the Tobu sewage sludge processing plant in Tokyo.

The research, carried out by the association and Professor Tomoya Yamauchi of Kobe University, found cesium levels of 230,000 becquerels per square meter, an amount six times higher than the limit set for material leaving the radiation exclusion zone in Fukushima, Fuji reported.


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