Japan Finds Radiation Spread Over a Wide Area via The Wall Street Journal

By MITSURU OBE

TOKYO—The first comprehensive soil survey from areas around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant showed extensive ground contamination and another report warned of the continued threat to Japan’s food chain, underscoring the major challenges the country still faces in its radioactive cleanup efforts.

Separately, the operator of the plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co, said Tuesday that a worker involved with the cleanup died of acute leukemia, though officials said medical tests concluded the death was unlikely related to his work at the plant.

Nearly six months after the accident, the education ministry released Tuesday the first comprehensive survey of soil contamination within a 62-mile radius, showing that more than 30 locations spread over a wide area have been contaminated with long-lasting radioactive cesium.

Continue reading at Japan Finds Radiation Spread Over a Wide Area