The chairman of Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority has denied that levels of radiation at the Fukushima Nuclear Plant high enough to be lethal.

The chairman of Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority has denied that levels of radiation at the Fukushima Nuclear Plant high enough to be lethal.

Shunichi Tanaka told a press conference that the high radiation was detected because of a strengthened monitoring system.

On Saturday, the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, announced readings as high as 1-thousand-eight-hundred millisieverts per hour. Local media said that the level was high enough to be fatal within four hours of exposure. But Tanaka says that the detected radiation is Beta radiation, which cannot penetrate objects as far as Gamma radiation.

Shunichi Tanaka, Chairman of Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority, said, "Supposing the figure of 1,800 millisieverts per hour is correct, it is Beta radiation so it does not penetrate through objects. So it has a totally different meaning from the case of Gamma radiation. As the detected radiation was Beta radiation, it will not penetrate as long as there is a 5-10 milimetre-thick plastic shield or you wear leather shoes. It should be OK, even if you stand on it for a while."

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