Japan Discovers Plutonium Far From Crippled Reactor
This appeared on Radio New Zealand. The report said plutonium could casue ‘some’ damage if ingested - and then went on to say that plutonium has a half-life of 22,000 years!
2 October, 2011
TOKYO—Trace amounts of plutonium were found as far as 28 miles from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power plant, the first time that the dangerous element released from the accident was found outside the immediate area of the plant.
The science ministry report issued Friday comes just as the government lifted one of its evacuation advisories, underscoring the difficulty of restoring normalcy and assuring the safety of residents around the crippled plant.
The government also reported a rare detection of strontium, another highly dangerous element, far from the crippled reactor, in one spot as far away as 50 miles. Most of the radioactive material discovered to date in the communities surrounding Fukushima Daiichi has been cesium or iodine.
The report said that the radiation from plutonium and strontium was "extremely low" compared to the high concentration of cesium, advising that the government maintain its focus on measuring and clearing the areas of cesium.
Still, the latest discovery is a potentially disturbing turn, as it shows that people relatively far from the plant could be exposed to more dangerous elements than had been previously disclosed.
While neither plutonium nor strontium emit powerful gamma rays like cesium and iodine, both deposit in the body—strontium in the bones, plutonium in the bones and lungs—and can cause cancer of leukemia once inhaled or ingested.
Both isotopes also have long half lives: it takes about 29 years for some forms of strontium to reduce by half, while plutonium isotopes have half-lives ranging from 88 years to over 24,000 years.
That makes them highly toxic in the body as they continue to emit alpha rays, and immensely difficult to get rid of in the environment.
The half-life of one of the most common iodine formations is eight days, while that for much of the cesium released is 30 years.
Specifically, Plutonium-238 believed to have been emitted from the damaged Fukushima reactors was found in soil samples from six separate locations, ranging from 0.55 to 4.0 becquerels per square meter. Samples from Iitate, a village located 28 miles from the power plant, registered 0.82 becquerels of Plutonium-238 and 2.5 becquerels of Plutonium-239 and -240. Iitate was evacuated earlier this year.
The finding comes from the science ministry's analysis of 100 soil samples taken within a 50-mile zone from the damaged plant between June and July.
Plutonium had previously been detected in Japan after atmospheric nuclear tests, sometimes at higher levels than were found from the June-July samples, a science ministry official said. However, the ministry cites higher-than-usual level of Plutonium-238 found in the soil samples from the six locations as evidence that plutonium release was not limited to the plant's compound.
Strontium-89 and -90 were also found in almost half of the 100 samples, in one case as far as the edge of the 50-mile zone registering measurement of 500 becquerels per square meter of Strontium-89 and 130 becquerels of Strontium-90.
Separately, reflecting the mounting costs of cleaning up from the accident, government agencies have requested about ¥400 billion, or about $5 billion, to cover the cost of cleaning up after the nuclear accident in the budget for the next fiscal year, beginning in April 2012, local media reported.
Radiation Worries Rise on Japan's Rice Crops
26 September, 2011
As Japan grows more of the rice it consumes, authorities are urged to be more stringent in keeping radioactive cesium out of the food supply.
Following news reports last week about radioactive iodine leaking outside the earthquake-crippled Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima, officials have begun testing harvested rice for possible contamination since Saturday.
In the rice paddies of Nihonmatsu City, more than 56 kilometers away from the power plant, rice crops tested positive for radioactive cesium, prefecture officials said in a report in The New York Times.
After the March 11 earthquake and tsunami catastrophes, the Japanese officials amended their regulations dubbing food commodities with as much as 500 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive substance as safe for consumption, the Times said.
The rice crops tested in Nihonmatsu reached the benchmark for radioactive cesium. In the previous tests, the rice crops in more than 400 locations in Fukushima Prefecture contained only 150 becquerels per kilogram of cesium, a stark contrast to the current radiation level.
Government officials also conducted tests on rice crops in other areas for possible contamination of radioactive substance saying they will ban shipment if the same levels of radioactive cesium are found on rice.
Japanese are furious over the latest results, criticizing government officials for neglecting their duties. Children and pregnant women are more vulnerable, even from moderate radiation levels.
Earlier, Japan banned shipment and recalled massive food products such as milk, tea and spinach and livestock meat like beef for contamination of radioactive substance in alarming levels. The rice contamination this time inflicts a major blow to all Japanese as they rely on rice as the staple oftheir diet.
The government officials promised to be keener in checking food safety.
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