Official radiation figures

September 29, 2012

Radiation near Fukushima plant falls by 20%

      http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20120929_15.html

Japan's Science and Technology Ministry says the average radiation level 1 meter above ground within an 80-kilometer radius of the Fukushima Daiichi plant fell by more than 20 percent during a 7-month period up to June.

Radiation levels were calculated using data collected both on ground and in the air using a helicopter in June.

The average radiation level at about 140,000 locations within an 80-kilometer radius of the plant fell by about 23 percent from early November of last year to June.

The decrease was almost 10 percentage points higher than 14 percent, the amount believed to be due to natural decline.

The ministry says, although radioactive materials may have been washed away by rain, it will continue to carry out the survey, as flight routes of the helicopters may have influenced the data collected.