No abnormal radiation readings were found in water samples taken from Feicuei Reservoir in New Taipei City (新北市) on March 18 and Tuesday last week, officials in charge of the reservoir said yesterday.
Taipei Feicuei Reservoir Administration Commissioner Liou Ming-lone (劉銘龍) said his office had been paying great attention to the possibility of radioactive dust contamination since Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant was damaged on March 11.
Since then, the Atomic Energy Council (AEC) has been assisting the reservoir, which supplies water to the Greater Taipei area, in monitoring its water quality for possible radioactive fallout, Liou said.
No radioactive particles have been detected in the water samples taken from the surface of the dam, he said.
However, tests will continue on a weekly basis and the results published on the agency’s Web site, he said in an apparent effort to allay public fears of radiation contamination from Japan’s crippled nuclear power plant.
According to international news wire reports yesterday, highly toxic plutonium was the latest contaminant found seeping into the soil outside the stricken coastal Fukushima plant.
Wu Yang-lung (吳陽龍), director of Taipei Water Department, said the AEC had set up radiation fallout checkpoints at several locations in northern Taiwan, including Yangmingshan (陽明山), Jinshan (金山), Longmen (龍門), Gongliao (貢寮) and Shuangsi (雙溪).
If any radioactive dust from Japan is found to be approaching Taiwan, the water department will take immediate steps to control the water flow at all its water treatment plants and increase its water-purifying measures, Wu said.
If any hazardous levels of radiation are found, the water department will immediately instruct people to stop drinking tap water, he added.
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