High radiation levels have been observed in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward.
Experts commissioned by the ward said on Thursday that up to 3.35 microsieverts per hour was detected 1 meter over a sidewalk near a residential fence.
The ward found a high of 2.707 microsieverts per hour a week ago in a 1-by-10-meter area, and made it off limits to protect schoolchildren and others.
The experts found that the most recently detected radiation is highly limited, as levels fall by almost half about 1 meter from the fence.
They added that up to 0.7 microsieverts per hour was recorded 4 meters from the strip.
The ward says it will work with residents to gauge radiation levels inside the fence and collect and analyze leaves at the site.
Environment official Yoko Saito says the survey has provided a rough picture of high-radiation spots. She says the ward will use the findings to find out the cause of the high levels and consider countermeasures.
Thursday, October 13, 2011 17:36 +0900 (JST)
NHK
Tokyo's Setagaya Ward has changed school routes in order to keep children away from the small area where a relatively high level of radiation has been detected.
On Thursday morning, about 10 teachers and local officials stood at an intersection to redirect children on their way to a nearby elementary school.
Some children were accompanied by their parents. A mother of a first-grader said she is worried that her child may have passed along the radiation contaminated site every day for over 6 months since the Fukushima accident.
The ward had already made the 10-by-one-meter area along a sidewalk off limits after announcing the finding on Wednesday.
But the ward decided to change school routes in response to concerns voiced by parents.
A ward official said the changes in the school routes will stay in place until the ward determines what caused the high level of radiation and decontaminates it properly.
Thursday, October 13, 2011 16:47 +0900 (JST)
