Dangerous levels of the radioactive substance cesium were found in the Japanese town of Itate, which is located some 40 kilometers from the Fukushima Number One nuclear power plant.

The Mainichi Shimbun said Tuesday that the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology analyzed samples of weeds gathered from Itate last Saturday and found a record of some two-point-nine becquerels of cesium per one kilogram of weeds.

A week ago, two-point-six million becquerels were found per one kilogram of weeds.

Itate’s level of contamination is regarded to be similar to levels seen during the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl in 1986.

The fact that a high concentration of cesium was found in Itate’s weeds suggests that the contamination levels in the soil around the Fukushima plant are rising.