Japan Students Exposed to Radiation

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Wednesday December 23 2:38 AM ET 

Japan Students Exposed to Radiation

TOKYO (AP) - Nine junior high school students in northern Japan 
were exposed to low levels of radiation while playing with 
radioactive cubes they found near a power plant monitoring station, 
an official said today.  

The students were exposed again when workers from the station, 
located near their school, asked them to help search for the 
devices, said Nobutoshi Sato of the Miyagi prefectural, or state, 
nuclear power safety office.  

Five teachers helping search for the cubes, used to measure 
radioactivity, also were exposed, he said. The incident took place 
Dec. 2 in Onagawa, 225 miles northeast of Tokyo.  

Officials first announced the exposures Tuesday, saying the 
amount of harmful material in the cubes was so low that medical 
checks on the students and teachers were not necessary, Sato 
said.  

He also said officials did not publicize the case earlier because 
they did not want to cause panic at the school.

Workers had left the cubes in a metal container outside the facility, 
Sato said. The students found the container, and the cubes fell 
onto the ground while they were playing with it, Sato said.  

When the workers found the empty container about 10 minutes 
later, they asked the students and teachers to help look for the 
cubes, he said.  

The prefecture set up the facility to monitor radiation levels from a 
nearby nuclear power plant.

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Sandy Perle
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net
Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205

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