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"Radioactive caesium and iodine has been deposited in northern Japan far from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, at levels that were considered highly contaminated after Chernobyl. The readings were taken by the Japanese science ministry, MEXT, and reveal high levels of caesium-137 and iodine-131 outside the 30-kilometre evacuation zone, mostly to the north-north-west. Iodine-131, with a half-life of eight days, should disappear in a matter of weeks. The bigger worry concerns caesium-137, which has a half-life of 30 years and could pose a health threat for far longer. Just how serious that will be depends on where it lands, and whether remediation measures are possible. The US Department of Energy has been surveying the area with an airborne gamma radiation detector. It reports that most of the "elevated readings" are within 40 kilometres of the plant, but that "an area of greater radiation extending north-west… may be of interest to public safety officials"."

The wild mushrooms tested in various parts of Finland still exhibit elevated levels of the radioactive caesium-137 that originates from the Chernobyl accident in 1986, while the caesium content of berries and animals has already become almost zero. In addition to mushrooms, some hares and the predatory fish in small lakes still contain radioactive caesium.

Chinese officials say that potentially deadly radioactive material lost in north-western Shaanxi province may have been found at a steel mill. Officials told the BBC that they had detected what may be the missing Caesium-137, adding that it may have been melted down. The Caesium-137, encased in lead, was lost this week when workers at a cement plant demolished an old factory. The material was part of a measuring instrument and is extremely dangerous.

"According to Japanese news sources, Japanese whalers tested 6 of 17 whales captured 650 kilometers north-east of the Fukushima nuclear reactor. Of the 6 whales tested 2 were found to contain cesium radiation which must have come from the Fukushima nuclear reactor. The first whale contained 31 becquerels per kilogram of cesium radiation and the second whale and the 24.3 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram. Japan Finds Nuclear Radiation In Whales Caught 650 KM From Fukushima Tokyo - Radioactive caesium was detected from two minke whales caught off a city on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, 650 kilometres north-east of a damaged nuclear plant, a news report said on Tuesday. Researchers examined six of the 17 whales during so-called research whaling in Kushiro city, which started this year's season in late April, and they detected 31 becquerels and 24.3 becquerels of radioactive caesium per kilogram in the two whales out of the six, Kyodo News reported citing a whalers' association."

Globally, nuclear power has become an increasingly important source of energy, accounting for about 15% of the world's electricity supply. When it comes to Latin America, 3.1% of electricity comes from this source. However, the nettlesome security issues resulting from utilizing nuclear energy sources largely have been ignored. On March 2008, Colombian authorities discovered that the FARC insurgent movement managed to obtain (it was never clarified from where) 9 kilograms of depleted uranium. Then, in early 2009, the Argentine media reported that an employee of the Baker Atlas Company oil-drilling operation in Neuquen had stolen a canister of nuclear substance Caesium-137, demanding up to US$500,000 in ransom payments from Baker Atlas.

Globally, nuclear power has become an increasingly important source of energy, accounting for about 15% of the world's electricity supply. When it comes to Latin America, 3.1% of electricity comes from this source. However, the nettlesome security issues resulting from utilizing nuclear energy sources largely have been ignored. On March 2008, Colombian authorities discovered that the FARC insurgent movement managed to obtain (it was never clarified from where) 9 kilograms of depleted uranium. Then, in early 2009, the Argentine media reported that an employee of the Baker Atlas Company oil-drilling operation in Neuquen had stolen a canister of nuclear substance Caesium-137, demanding up to US$500,000 in ransom payments from Baker Atlas.

"NEARLY a quarter of a century after the nuclear reactor at Chernobyl in the Ukraine exploded and spewed radioactivity across the world, it has finally stopped making Scottish sheep too "hot" to eat. For the first time since the accident, levels of radioactive contamination in sheep on all Scottish farms dropped below safety limits last month, enabling the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to lift restrictions. Controls on the movement and sale of sheep have been in force since after the explosion in 1986. The Chernobyl reactor near Kiev scattered a massive cloud of radioactivity over Europe after it overheated, caught fire and ripped apart because of errors made by control room staff. It was the world's worst nuclear accident, and has been blamed for causing tens of thousands of deaths from cancers. Peat and grass in upland areas of Scotland were polluted with radioactive caesium-137 released by the reactor, blown across Europe and brought to ground by rain."

Dounreay today publishes the findings of its investigation into the discovery of a radioactive particle in land adjacent to the licensed site. The investigation report has been distributed to the land-user and nearby residents following its submission to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. It can be downloaded here. An investigation was carried out into the discovery of contamination during a survey last month of the off-site area designated for development as a repository for low level radioactive waste from the site decommissioning. One find was determined to be a 'minor' DFR particle and the second was found to be a disperse area of radioactive contamination containing caesium. From expert advice neither of the finds poses a health risk. Both of the finds were well below the ground surface indicating they have been there for 10 years or longer. The reason for the contamination at this location was not definitively determined.

An Italian court has ordered the recall of 10,000 tonnes of wood fuel pellets imported from Lithuania over fears that they could have dangerous levels of radioactivity, newspapers reported on Sunday. The alarm was raised after someone in the northern Aosta Valley region, who had bought the pellets, sent them for analysis because they did not burn well. The results showed that they contained caesium 137, a highly toxic radioactive substance normally produced by a nuclear explosion or from the combustion of a nuclear reactor. The contaminated pellets themselves are not dangerous to humans, said Salvatore Aprile of the Aosta Valley court: the dangers comes from the ashes and the smoke produced when they are burned. The court ordered their recall on Saturday. The pellets at the centre of the alert were imported from Lithuania last autumn and were sold in 11 regions in the north and south of Italy.

Sellafield is the site of Britain's worst nuclear accident. A blaze in 1957 in the reactor of Pile 1 released a massive plume of radioactive caesium, iodine and polonium that spread across Britain and northern Europe. Up to 200 cases of cancer - including thyroid and breast cancer and also leukaemia - may have been triggered by the fire's emissions, according to estimates which were published by epidemiologists led by Professor Richard Wakeford, of Manchester University, two years ago.

"Are we being too sanguine about the safety of new nuclear power stations likely to be built in Britain? The new reactors have been thought to be much less hazardous than their predecessors, largely because they have more safety features and produce less waste. But there is increasing evidence that the new European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) may pose particular problems of its own, and EDF wants to build four in Britain. Information buried deep in nuclear industry documents has already revealed that they produce up to eleven times as much of radioactive isotopes - like caesium 135 and 137 - that could be rapidly released in an accident than do present-day reactors. This would not matter too much if accidents were very much less likely to happen, but that is now being called into question."

"The radiation effects from the Fukushima I nuclear accidents are the results of release of radioactive isotopes from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. The total amount of iodine-131 and caesium-137 released into the atmosphere has been estimated to exceed 10% of the emissions from the Chernobyl accident.[1][2] Large amounts on radioactive isotopes have also been released into the Pacific Ocean. The accidents were rated at level 7 rating on the International Nuclear Event Scale."

Customs officials in far eastern Russia said Thursday they had stopped almost 50 secondhand cars shipped for sale from Japan that showed excessive radiation levels. A sign with the nuclear hazard symbol stands in front of cars from Japan in the eastern Russian city of Vladivostok on April 14. Customs officials in far eastern Russia said they had stopped almost 50 secondhand cars shipped for sale from Japan that showed excessive radiation levels. Customs officials stopped 49 cars with radiation levels up to six times above normal, while some vehicles had traces of the radioactive isotopes caesium-127 and uranium-238, said Roman Famin, who heads the regional customs' radiation monitoring department. The radioactive cars started arriving at the Vladivostok port 10 days ago, but the government consumer watchdog has not made a decision on what to do with the contaminated cars, Famin said at a briefing.

"The disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in March released far more radiation than the Japanese government has claimed. So concludes a study1 that combines radioactivity data from across the globe to estimate the scale and fate of emissions from the shattered plant. The study also suggests that, contrary to government claims, pools used to store spent nuclear fuel played a significant part in the release of the long-lived environmental contaminant caesium-137, which could have been prevented by prompt action. The analysis has been posted online for open peer review by the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. "