Radioactive iodine from Japan found in Oxford and Scotland
Low levels of radioactive iodine from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan have been detected in Britain.
The Health Protection Agency today confirmed that tests in Oxfordshire and Glasgow had picked up particles which could be traced back to the stricken plant.
Dr Michael Clark, science spokesman for the health agency, said: "Very low levels of radioactivity, traceable to Fukushima, have been detected at monitoring stations in the UK including Chilton, in Oxfordshire, and Glasgow.
"These traces have been found in Europe - Switzerland, Germany and Iceland - and in the US. They're trace levels but of course with radioactivity we can measure very low amounts." He added that the levels presented no danger to the public or the environment.
Fears that Japan is losing its battle to prevent a full-scale nuclear meltdown grew today when plutonium was found in soil near Fukushima plant.
The highly toxic substance - used in the production of nuclear weapons - was discovered as the Japanese prime minister announced he would consider extending the 20-mile evacuation zone. Naoto Kan said the government was in a state of "maximum alert".
Officials at Tokyo Electric Power Company, the embattled owners of the Fukushima reactors, were forced to admit they did not know the origin of the plutonium but stressed levels would not damage human health.
However chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano described the situation as "very grave" and warned the detection of plutonium supported concerns that there was "a partial melting of the fuel rods".
Experts said the plutonium find was a significant escalation in the crisis as the element is only released from fuel rods when temperatures are extremely high. It is difficult to break down, remaining radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years. When it decays, plutonium emits alpha particles which can damage DNA in human cells and cause cancer.
"The relative toxicity of plutonium is much higher than that of iodine or cesium," said Robert Henkin, professor emeritus of radiology at Loyola University in Chicago. "Plutonium just sits there and is a nasty agent." Alan Lockwood, a professor of neurology and nuclear medicine at the University at Buffalo, added: "If you inhale it, it's there and it stays there for ever."
Yesterday highly radioactive water was found for the first time outside one of the Fukushima reactors. Radiation has entered food, milk and even tap water in Tokyo, 150 miles away, although authorities there said it was now safe.
Workers dubbed the "Fukushima Fifty" are trying to restart cooling systems at the nuclear plant, which was hit by a powerful earthquake and tsunami more than two weeks ago. More than 10,000 people have died and 17,000 people are missing.
