Mystery objects with high radiation found on Fukushima coast

In a coastal area long silent due to the Fukushima nuclear accident, the only sounds of human activity on June 18 were from workers removing rubble and continuing their decontamination efforts. But soon, their supervisor discovered something that broke up the monotony of the work and added to the eeriness of the atmosphere.

After a call to the Environment Ministry, Takeshi Kato, 55, a ministry specialist, immediately headed to the location about 15 kilometers south of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

As he slowly walked around with a dosimeter, he reached a hot spot where radiation levels nearly doubled those of the surrounding areas. Using a fallen branch to clear away dirt, Kato uncovered a grayish pile about 3 centimeters long, about 1.5 cm wide and about 0.5 cm thick.

The surface of the pile, which looked like soil, had gamma ray readings of about 85 microsieverts per hour. The total reading, including beta rays, came to 1 millisievert per hour.

It was the first of four mysterious objects with high radiation levels found near the mouth of the Idegawa river in Naraha, Fukushima Prefecture.

Officials at the government and Tokyo Electric Power Co., the plant’s operator, do not know where these objects came from or why they have high radiation levels. In fact, they are not sure what these objects actually are or were used for.

Kato thought the gray pile might have been radioactive materials used at a medical institution. That thought came to mind because of the incident in October 2011, when bottles of radium were found under the floor of an abandoned residence in Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward.

Under the special measures law to deal with pollution by radioactive materials, TEPCO is responsible for processing any waste emerging from the grounds of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. Based on the law, the Environment Ministry asked TEPCO to gather up and study the mystery pile.

TEPCO workers later checked the Naraha area and discovered the other objects with high radiation readings. All three objects were small enough to be held in one hand.

On July 2, a fluffy object that looked like tree bark was found, followed by what looked like a black plastic sheet and wood chips with no elasticity on July 5.

One hypothesis is that the objects flowed down the Idegawa river, but that theory is highly implausible because all four objects were found at least 100 meters from the river.

More: http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaste…1308030015