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HK detects traces of radioactive iodine-131

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-03-29 17:56

HONG KONG -- Hong Kong detects minimum radioactive iodine-131 in the air on March 26 and 27, Hong Kong Observatory's Senior Scientific Officer Ma Wai Man said on Tuesday.

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But Ma told a press conference on Tuesday that "the detected amount of iodine-131 is very minimum, not high enough to be harmful".

Ma also added that since it takes time to assess the data, the Observatory did not announce the result until Tuesday.

Meanwhile, The Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS) said on Tuesday that traces of radioactive iodine-131 have been detected in Seoul, a day after the government confirmed minuscule amounts of radioactive xenon-133 in the country's eastern province of Gangwon.

The institute said in a statement the amounts were so small that there was no immediate risk to public health or the environment.

The KINS assumed that the radioactive substance leaked from the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan flew to the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, circled around the Arctic region and Siberia and moved to South Korea.