High radiation levels found in new condo in Japan
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High levels of radiation have been detected in a condominium building in Japan’s Nihonmatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture, which was built using crushed stones taken from an evacuation zone created in the aftermath of the nation’s nuclear crisis.
A quarry firm said on Monday that it shipped some 5,280 tons of crushed stones from Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, to 19 contractors after the nuclear crisis started last March 11.
Some 1,065 tons of crushed stones were distributed to a concrete maker that provided the material for the Nihonmatsu building’s foundations.
The firm is investigating its shipments to determine if crushed stones contaminated with radiation also were used in other buildings, media report.
According to the report, Nihonmatsu city detected 0.9 to 1.24 microsieverts of radiation per hour inside the first-floor condominium unit.
This was higher than the radiation level outside, which was between 0.7 to 1 microsieverts at places 1 meter above ground around the building.
On the second and third floors, the inside readings were 0.1 and 0.3 microsievert.
Meanwhile, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said the government will closely study the distribution routes that the crushed stones took, but he also said that the annual radiation exposure in the condo will not reach 20 millisieverts, the level at which evacuation would be required.
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