Radioactive suits improperly disposed

The Yomiuri Shimbun

FUKUSHIMA--Twelve protective suits and masks--including one suit on which a slight amount of radioactivity was detected--were found to have been improperly disposed of in Tamura, Fukushima Prefecture, which is located near the 30-kilometer exclusion zone of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

The Tamura city government received a report from a citizen on April 6 that the suits were abandoned at a site along National Highway Route 288.

Government officials found 10 suits, masks and gloves discarded on the ground that day. Two more suits were found disposed of April 12 and on Friday, respectively, at the same location. The government checked the amount of radioactivity and detected radioactive emissions at a level of about 4,000 counts per minute from one of the suits.

The level was lower than the 13,000 cpm level at which the local government considers it necessary to partially decontaminate the suit.

"It's extremely dangerous to dispose of these suits [in such a way]. It causes fear among citizens and evacuees," said a spokesperson of the city government.