Azernews.Az

BAKU – Azerbaijan’s environment ministry has said the radioactive cloud caused by a leak following the catastrophe at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant cannot enter Azerbaijan’s territory, saying there is no threat of high radiation levels in the country.

The experts ruled out the hazard due to the wind blowing in the opposite direction, toward the American continent, according to the ministry’s website.

"Even if the situation unfolded differently, the cloud would no longer pose a radioactive threat after passing over the Taiga forests and the ocean," the ministry said in a statement.

But Germany’s Cologne University said the radioactive smog emanating from the Fukushima 1 plant might reach Azerbaijan. According to a map published by the university, which showed the trajectory of the radioactive substances leaking from the facility, the cloud, which will reach Tehran, could also spread to the Nakhchivan autonomous republic in southern Azerbaijan.

Radioactive iodine was discovered in Belarus on Wednesday. Earlier, radioactive substances were found in China, South Korea, Vietnam, Iceland, Sweden and the United States.

The Fukushima plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, was damaged in a March 11 earthquake and tsunami that left more than 27,000 people dead or missing across northeast Japan. The death toll is reportedly around 10,800 people, with over 16,200 missing. About a quarter of a million people are living in shelters and damage could top $300 billion, making it the world's costliest natural disaster.