More Radioactive Radium Found in Tokyo [Not From Fukushima]
A couple days ago, Japanese authorities fenced-off part of a parking lot in Tokyo’s Setagaya ward after a concerned citizen detected higher than normal levels of radiation (up to 170 microsieverts per hour). Like the other recent radioactive “hot spot” found in Setagaya, it was revealed to be unrelated to the Fukushima nuclear plant:
An investigation by the ministry detected a high radiation level of around 40 millisieverts per hour near a bottle found 40 centimeters deep in the ground near the supermarket in Setagaya Ward.
If a person were continually exposed to such a level of radiation for two and a half hours, the risk of dying from cancer would increase by 0.5 percent, the officials said.
Although the source of the radiation has not been determined, lead and bismuth, released when radium-226 decays, were detected after workers dug into the ground, they said.
Radium is not among the radioactive substances released by the Fukushima plant since it was crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology said earlier.
Radium-226 used to be commonly used for medical treatments and industrial
According to the Japan Times, radium was not heavily regulated in Japan until after 1957. There is a very real possibility that quite a lot of this material was thrown away or buried in parts of Tokyo before 1957, and there is even a chance of careless businesses that illegally disposed of it after the regulations were in place.
Today the media is reporting the government will be checking another 15 abnormal spots in Setagaya.
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