Radiation levels are within the norm in all districts of Russia’s Far East as of early Sunday morning despite the accident at the Japanese nuclear power plant in March, a spokesman for the regional emergencies ministry said.
“As of Sunday morning, we have not detected radiation above natural background levels in Far Eastern regions,” the spokesman said.
Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was seriously damaged by a powerful earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11. Fukushima’s operator has since been struggling to stop radioactive leaks from the plant’s crippled reactors.
Radioactive elements have been found in the water, air and food products in some parts of Japan.
Russian officials have consistently said there is no evidence the radiation has spread to Russia’s Pacific coast. Meanwhile, 47 Japanese automobiles indicating high levels of radioactivity remain in the port at the Russian Far East City of Vladivostok.
The Russian Geographic Society will next week send an expedition to the Sea of Japan to monitor the levels of nuclear contamination in the water, and check on seismic processes in an area stretching from the Kuril Islands to Kamchatka Peninsula.
VLADIVOSTOK, April 17 (RIA Novosti)