Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Fukushima DayCare & High School Still Hot After Cleanup

Two day care centers and a high school building in Fukushima Prefecture remain contaminated with high levels of radioactive matter even after they underwent cleanup work, Greenpeace Japan said.

On the ground of the yard at one day care center, the radiation was as high as 0.9 microsieverts per hour, or nearly 8 millisieverts per year, while the reading below its roof reached 7.1 microsieverts, according to the environmental group's findings earlier this month, Greenpeace said Monday.

A maximum reading at the high school was 7.9 microsieverts per hour and the other day care center registered 0.2 microsieverts per hour.

People living in areas with radiation of 5 millisieverts or higher per year were ordered out after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, said Kazue Suzuki, a member of the Greenpeace investigative team. "Children should be evacuated until further cleanup work brings down the amount of radioactivity to a safe level."

Facilities accommodating children can be polluted with radioactive matter that has fallen on nearby buildings and the ground around them, so cleaning up children's facilities alone is not sufficient to ensure safety, said Jan Vande Putte, chief of the Greenpeace team.

NOTE: Where is the radioactive material going? In the ground? In the air? What is the clean up procedure?

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