High Radiation Readings Outside Evacuation Zone

Japan's government nuclear safety agency said it was looking into a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency about high levels of radiation in the ground of the village of Iitate, 25 miles from the plant in Fukushima prefecture. The IAEA, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, said the level tested in Iitate was twice its suggested threshold for evacuation.

Japanese safety spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama said most residents in Iitate have left, but about 100 have chosen to stay. But the independent Nuclear Safety Commission said it sees no reason to expand the evacuation zone. Commission member Seiji Shiroya said evacuation criteria in Japan are decided according to how much radiation people would be exposed to, not radiation levels in the ground.

Source: NPR