VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Science and Technology will check radioactivity levels in Vietnamese returning from Japan and has plans to deal with radioactive dust in case it floats to Vietnam.

“We will have free checks of radioactivity for Vietnamese citizens who return from Japan,” stressed Ngo Dang Nhan, chief of the Radioactive Safety Agency.

“Leading radioactive experts will perform the checks,” Nhan said.

Four Vietnamese who returned home from Japan, three from Tokyo and one from Sendai, were tested for radioactive infection on March 18 and the test results showed none of them was infected with I-131 and Cs-137 radioactive isotopes.

“The checks showed that these people are not infected with radioactivity,” Nhan informed.

Vietnamese who return from Japan and want to have radioactive tests just need to bring their passports to the Center for Radioactive Safety Technology and Breakdown Dealing at 56 Linh Lang street, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi.

The radioactive cloud from Japan’s Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant that suffered explosions several days ago has been moving southeast since March 19 but it has yet to reach Vietnam, confirmed the Ministry of Science and Technology on March 18.

The ministry is coordinating with other relevant agencies in making plans to cope with the impact of the harmful cloud in case it reaches Vietnam.

In an effort to protect people against nuclear dangers, the “Responding to a Nuclear Emergency” manual of the Japanese Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency has been translated into Vietnamese and posted on the Vietnam Agency for Radiation and Nuclear Safety’s website at www.varans.vn for reference.

Japan has raised the seriousness of the nuclear crisis from the fourth to fifth level. “If the level increases to seven, Vietnam may be affected,” Nhan said.

All 84 Vietnamese who were staying in Miyagy, Fukushima and Iwate – the main areas hit by the disaster - were evacuated to Tokyo and are not infected with radioactivity.

PV