The Japanese government has detected high levels of radioactivity in vegetables grown near a stricken nuclear power station in north-eastern Japan and in fish in nearby waters, news reports said Thursday.
The Health Ministry found radioactivity above legal limits in fish caught off Fukushima Prefecture and 11 kinds of vegetables produced in the prefecture, where the troubled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station is located, public broadcaster NHK reported.
The plant was crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, dpa reported.Tokyo Electric Power Co, the operator of the plant, and the government have struggled to stabilize the plant ever since.
The ministry detected 12,500 becquerels per kilogram, or 25 times the limit, of radioactive caesium in sand lances caught on Wednesday and 12,000 becquerels, or six times the limit, of radioactive iodine in the fish, NHK reported citing the ministry.
A week ago, sand lances caught in the same area were already found to be contaminated with radioactive caesium above the limit, while sand lances caught off Ibaraki Prefecture, south of Fukushima, were also found to be polluted with the radioactive substance, NHK said.
The government found radioactivity on 11 kinds of vegetables sampled on Monday in the prefecture.
On Wednesday, shipments of shiitake mushrooms grown outdoors in eastern part of the prefecture were banned due to radioactivity above the legal limit.