Thursday 13 October 2011

Radiation reported in Tokyo

Radiation has been detected in a Tokyo suburb, according to reports from Japan. Japanese media said researchers found radiation levels of 3.35 microsieverts per hour along a street in the west of the capital- 136 miles from Fukushima.

According to the Japanese science ministry if this level continues the annual dose of radiation in the hotspot would be 17.6 millisieverts, just below the 20 millisieverts per year threshold that requires evacuation.

The higher readings come as more tests illustrate how far fall-out from the Fukushima disaster has spread, with elevated levels of radioactive caesium recently found as far away as Yokohama, more than 150 miles from the plant.

The Fukushima plant was crippled by an earthquake and tsunami in March, which killed 20,000 people.