Tokyo Radiation Less Than Paris's 3 Years After Meltdown

Above, a view of Tokyo from the Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

If you are fearful of visiting Tokyo due to radiation from the damaged nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant from the Great East Japan Earthquake, then once you read this you will see that you would be less exposed to radiation than if you were to visit Paris, France.

According to an article at Bloomberg.com:

Atmospheric radiation levels in Tokyo are at the same level as before the Fukushima nuclear accident three years ago and are below those in Paris and London. 

The average radiation level in central Tokyo was 0.0339 microsieverts per hour in Shinjuku Ward on March 6, data from the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health show. That’s about the same as the day before the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused the meltdown of three reactors at the Fukushima plant 220 kilometers (137 miles) to the northeast. 

That reading compares with 0.085 microsieverts in London and 0.108 microsieverts in Seoul on March 3, and 0.057 microsieverts in Paris on Feb. 27, according to a compilation of world monitoring sites on the website of the Japan National Tourism Organization. Radiation levels in central Tokyo were as high as 0.809 microsieverts per hour on March 15, 2011 before declining to 0.0489 microsieverts by the morning of March 18. 

Radiation occurs naturally in the environment, so it doesn't necessarily mean that radiation leaked from some man-made nuclear power plant or from some device.

Tomorrow is the third anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake.

To read the full article, go here.