The Japanese government intends to use J-Village in Fukushima as the starting point for the Japan leg of the Olympic torch relayBy CHARLY TRIBALLEAUEnvironmental pressure group Greenpeace said Wednesday it had detected what it called radiation "hot spots" near the starting point for the upcoming Olympic torch relay in Fukushima, northeastern Japan.
After a clean-up process, the sports center became fully operational again in April this year, shortly after Japanese Olympic officials decided to use it as the starting point for the torch relay.
Greenpeace said they had detected some spots with radiation levels as high as 1.7 microsieverts per hour when measured one meter above the surface.
However, J-Village's internet site says the radiation reading at its main entrance was 0.111 microsieverts per hour on Wednesday, while one of its fields showed a reading of 0.085 microsieverts per hour.
Greenpeace said it had relayed its findings to the Japanese government as well as local and international Olympic organizers.