AlQa'dah 15, 1432, Oct 13, 2011, SPA -- Two small spots in the Tokyo metropolitan area showed higher radiation levels than those of some evacuation zones around a damaged Japanese nuclear power plant, dpa quoted media reports as saying Thursday. In the city of Funabashi, 30 kilometres east of Tokyo, a civic group found a small area in a park Thursday had a radiation level of 5.82 microsieverts per hour, compared with 5.68 microsieverts per hour measured Wednesday in Namie in the no-go zone around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. The plant was hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and began leaking radioactive material, prompting evacuations of nearby residents. Funabashi city officials declared the area off-limits and started to record radiation levels in the park, the Kyodo News agency said. Tokyo officials on Thursday also found radiation of 3.35 microsieverts per hour in a spot in one of the most populous areas of Japan's capital. Radiation of up to 2.71 microsieverts per hour was recorded in the same area Wednesday, much higher than in other areas in Tokyo. Officials could not explain why the radiation levels were so high in the two areas but said they would conduct decontaminations, local media reported. Radioactive strontium was also detected Wednesday near Tokyo, about 250 kilometres south-west of the plant. A private agency found 195 becquerels of strontium 90 on the rooftop of an apartment building in Yokohama after a resident requested the test. Strontium 90, with a half-life of 29 years, tends to accumulate in bones if inhaled or ingested, and it is believed to cause bone cancer and leukaemia. On Thursday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said the government would enhance monitoring of radiation.
