Radiation sparks fears in Tokyo

TOKYO, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Some Tokyo residents say they're concerned about several radiation hot spots detected near the city months after Japan's nuclear crisis.

Tokyo is more than 125 miles from Fukushima, where a nuclear power plant was damaged in a massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Officials investigated after a citizens' group said a radiation level of 5.82 microsieverts was detected near a children's theme park in Funabashi, east of Tokyo, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

In Setagaya, in western Tokyo, a hot spot measuring 3.35 microsieverts was found around the wall of an old house. Japanese media, however, said the Setagaya reading is probably unrelated to Fukushima because of the type of radiation found, the newspaper said.

Officials said chances of a highly contaminated hot spot in the Tokyo area was unlikely, The Japan Times reported.

In Yokohama, which is south of Tokyo and even farther from Fukushima, a soil sample from the top of an apartment building was found to contain strontium-90, which has a half-life of 29 years. Officials said they were testing to see if it came from the damaged nuclear plant, the Post said.