Plutonium accumulating in Japanese Bay.Fifty years ago, the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. performed tests of nuclear weapons in the Marshall Islands Marshall Islands, officially Republic of the Marshall Islands, independent nation (2005 est. pop. 59,000), in the central Pacific. The Marshalls extend over a 700-mi (1,130-km) area and comprise two major groups: the Ratak Chain in the east, and the Ralik Chain in , an island group almost halfway between Hawaii and Tokyo. Now radioactive plutonium plutonium (pl  tō`nēəm), radioactive chemical element; symbol Pu; at. no. 94; mass no. of most stable isotope 244; m.p. 641°C;; b.p. 3,232°C;; sp. gr. 19. particles that match the fallout from those blasts have been found in Japan's Sagami Bay Sagami Bay (相模湾, Sagami-wan), also known as the Sagami Gulf or Sagami Sea, lies south of Kanagawa Prefecture in Honshū, central Japan, with the Miura Peninsula to its east and the Izu Peninsula to its west. by researchers at the Japanese National Institute of Radiological Science. This is the first time such particles have been found in Japanese waters. The researchers believe they pose no environmental risk. They plan to study other shorelines in Japan to determine how the particles traveled--useful information in the event of a nuclear emergency. At present researchers believe the particles were carried by the ocean currents. |
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