The concentration of radioactiveiodine found in rainwater andsheep milk is negligible, 600 timesbelow the allowed quantity, and itposes no risk to the health of thepopulation, the director of theMagurele Nuclear Physics andEngineering Institute, NicolaeVictor Zamfir, stated, yesterday,quoted by Mediafax. Zamfir gaveassurances that, if the levels measuredat ground level had soaredabove the normal figures, theauthorities would have beenwarned, but added there was nohint of a rise in radioactivity atground level. According to the latter,environment quality is monitored,daily, at Magurele, nearBucharest, and no rise in radioactivitylevels was reported, followingthe accident in Japan. At thesame time, however, a group ofresearchers took advantage of theexistence of a measuring lab in theSlanic Prahova salt mine, at undergroundlevel, and conducted aseries of tests as part of a researchproject. The director of the PhysicsInstitute added that the Executivehad asked to be informed rightaway if radioactivity levels roseabove the acceptable level. Zamfirwas summoned to the Executive’sweekly meeting to clarify the datain the report which indicated thepresence of traces of radioactiveiodine in rainwater and sheep milkin Slanic.
