福島電站附近土壤測驗出鈈

Recently the NHK News reported the following:
福島第一原子力発電所の事故で、発電所の敷地内の土壌からプルトニウムが検出されました。東京電力によりますと、検出されたプルトニウムはごく微量で、人体に影響のあるレベルではないということです。東京電力によりますと、２１日から２２日にかけて福島第一原子力発電所の敷地内の５か所で土壌を採取し、外部の専門機関で分析を行いました。その結果、そのうちの少なくとも２か所から今回の事故に伴って放出されたとみられるプルトニウムが検出されたということです。東京電力によりますと、検出されたプルトニウムはごく微量で、人体に影響のあるレベルではないということです。プルトニウムは、通常のウラン燃料を使った原子力発電で生成されるほか、福島第一原発の場合、３号機ではＭＯＸ燃料と呼ばれるプルトニウムを含む燃料も使用しています。プルトニウムが出す放射線は紙１枚で遮蔽することが可能ですが、肺などの臓器に取り込まれると長い間とどまり、がんなどを引き起こす可能性があるため、東京電力で調査を行っていました。東京電力は今後も引き続き、週２回、福島第一原発の敷地内の３か所で土壌のプルトニウムの調査を続けることにしています。
(試譯文)
Plutonium was detected from the soil at the site of the power plant as a result of the accident at the number nuclear plant in Fukushima. According to the Tokyo Electric Power Company the plutonium detected was of very low level and there was little influence on the human body.

According to the Tokyo Electric Power Company, the soil was gathered from the 21st to the 22nd in five places at the site of the nuclear plant in Fukushima, and it was analyzed by an outside specialized agency. The result was that at least at two locations plutonium was detected and that was thought to have been discharged due to the present accident. The detected plutonium was at a very low level that there was little influence on the human body, according to the Tokyo Electric Power Company. Plutonium was generated when usual uranium was used to generate electricity in nuclear power plant; at the number one nuclear power plant in Fukushima, its number three machine used a fuel called mixed oxide fuel that had plutonium inside. Although the radiation given out by plutonium could be shielded off by one piece of paper, the Tokyo Electric Power Company carried out investigation because when it was taken up by the internal organs such as lungs and other organs for a long time, there was a possibility of causing cancer. In future, the Tokyo Electric Power Company would twice a week continue investigating the plutonium in the soil at three locations of the first nuclear power plant in Fukushima.


The detection of plutonium in the soil at the vicinity of the nuclear plant is a serious matter. Close monitoring of the radiation is a crucial step to ensure safety.