Some good and not-so-good news regarding Philippine radioactive levels

QUEZON CITY, March 29 (PIA) - The radiation level in the country remains normal from 94 to 118 nSv/hr (nanosieverts per hour) as gathered by the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) at the institute grounds today.

Despite the good news, the PNRI is vigorous in checking the radioactivity in the Philippines as radioisotope presence has already been detected in THE country.

On March 23, the PNRI detected iodine-131 at 33 microbecquerels per cubic meter, cesium-134 at 4.2 microbecquerels per cubic meter, and cesium-137 at 5.7 microbecquerels per cubic meter.

On March 26, iodine-131 is now at 20 microbecquerels per cubic meter, cesium-134 at 0.7 microbecquerels per cubic meter, and cesium-137 at 0.7 microbecquerels per cubic meter.

“Environmental radiation monitoring all over the world including the Philippines has detected very tiny amounts of radioactive isotopes which appeared to be coming from the Fukushima nuclear power plant and which pose no human health hazards,” PNRI report said.

The institute also explained that earlier report on extreme high levels of radiation (10 million times normal) appears to be a report error. The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has already corrected the report. “Nevertheless, high levels of radiation remain inside the nuclear power plant but pose danger only to the emergency workers,” the PNRI says.

For further advisories, PNRI can be reached through telephone numbers 929-6010 to 19. (PIA-NCR/RJB/DBN)