Revelations that low amounts of plutonium, a component of nuclear bombs, were detected in soil near the Fukushima No. 1 plant sent shock waves across the nation Tuesday.
But experts say despite plutonium's dangers and the mounting fears, there is little risk of the deadly radioactive particles spreading to a wider area.
The plutonium leak "will have no impact on the surrounding residential areas," Hironobu Unesaki, a professor at the Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute, told The Japan Times. The nuclear engineering expert added the continued dispersal of radioactive iodine and cesium is much more worrisome than the plutonium leaks.