Highly dangerous and toxic plutonium is seeping into the soil out side the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daii-chii nuclear power plant multiplying the problems of the technicians to cool the overheated facility.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told media persons in Tokyo this morning that plutonium was detected at several places outside the damaged plant confirming the suspicions that the dangerous radioactive water has been leaking from damaged nuclear fuel rods.
“The situation is very grave,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said, adding that the technicians have been doing their best to contain the damage.
The discovery of plutonium in the soil around the crippled plant is worrying officials as it emits alpha particles that carry a lot of energy during the process of its decay. When an alpha particle hits the tissues of a human body, it can damage the DNA of a cell and lead to a cancer-causing mutation.
Plutonium decays very slowly and it remains dangerously radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years. “If you inhale it, it’s there in your body for ever,” said an expert of nuclear medicine.
China finds trace of radiation
Chinese authorities said they have found traces of radiation in the Chinese atmosphere. Low levels of iodine-131were detected in the air above the northeastern Heilongjiang province over the weekend.
North Korea closely monitoring radiation
North Korea is also worried that the radiation mixed atmosphere may reach its territory from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant. The North Korean government has ordered a continuous monitoring of the atmosphere.
