The science ministry on Nov. 2 removed a bottle containing a brown substance believed to be radium that likely caused radioactive hot spots around a supermarket in Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward.
The bottle was found 40 centimeters under the ground near the entrance of the supermarket in the ward’s Hachimanyama district. The partially damaged bottle was 20 centimeters long and 10 cm in diameter.
Ministry officials said the bottle looked very old, but there were no signs that specified a date. They also said they were trying to determine why the bottle was there.
About 40 millisieverts per hour of radiation was detected around the bottle. After it was taken out of the area, the radiation levels of the soil fell to 2 millisieverts/h, according to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
The level fell further to about 25 microseiverts/h after bottle fragments and soil were removed, according to the ministry. The bottle and soil were sealed in a special container, officials said.
They concluded the radioactivity detected there was not related to the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
The ministry remeasured levels in and around the supermarket on Nov. 2, and detected 0.2 to 12 microsieverts of radiation at 15 locations, including the ground's surface and the supermarket floor.
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