Plutonium traces found at 10 locations in Japan's Fukushima Prefecture

Tokyo, Aug 23 (ANI): Plutonium believed to be from Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant, which was crippled after the devastating earthquake and tsunami on March 11 last year, has reportedly been detected at ten locations.

According to Japan's Science Ministry, the highest reading was 11 becquerels of plutonium-238 per square meter, detected in the town of Namie, one of the ten locations in Fukushima Prefecture.

The ministry said that is about 1.4 times higher than the level that originated from fallout from nuclear weapons tests abroad, The Japan Times reports.

The ministry said there was no health hazard, given the small quantities involved.

The findings were from a survey in which samples were taken at 62 locations within 100 km of the stricken plant.

The ministry said that no plutonium was found in samples from areas 45 km or farther from the plant. (ANI)