The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster shows more dangerous radiation signs each day.While Plutonium Poisoning was found in the soil near the Nuclear Reactors,a more alarming development is the high levels of Caesium being found in areas far away from the plant.Note Caesium is a heavy element which is found in areas of radioactivity like Iodine 130.Caesium has a much bigger half life than iodine and can cause radiation poisoning for a much longer period.

According to report Caesium levels as high as 6400 kilobequels (kBq) of caesium per square metre were found in areas 35 kms north of the Fukushima plant while 1490 is considered to be highly contaminated.This is much higher than the Chernobyl levels and the radioactivity has been discovered in areas as far as 50 kms away from the plant while the government has only evacuated only 20 kms area around the plant.

Caesium fallout from Fukushima rivals Chernobyl

An analysis of MEXT’s data by New Scientist shows just how elevated the levels are. After the 1986 Chernobyl accident, the most highly contaminated areas were defined as those with over 1490 kilobequels (kBq) of caesium per square metre. Produce from soil with 550 kBq/m² was destroyed.

People living within 30 kilometres of the plant have evacuated or been advised to stay indoors. Since 18 March, MEXT has repeatedly found caesium levels above 550 kBq/m² in an area some 45 kilometres wide lying 30 to 50 kilometres north-west of the plant. The highest was 6400 kBq/m², about 35 kilometres away, while caesium reached 1816 kBq/m² in Nihonmatsu City and 1752 kBq/m² in the town of Kawamata, where iodine-131 levels of up to 12,560 kBq/m² have also been measured. “Some of the numbers are really high,” says Gerhard Proehl, head of assessment and management of environmental releases of radiation at the International Atomic Energy Agency.