The Seoul city government said Saturday it will conduct radioactivity tests on all asphalt roads paved in 2000 after higher-than-standard levels of radioactivity were detected on a pavement in a northern part of the city.

Up to 10 times the average radioactivity levels were detected on a road in Wolgye-dong in northern Seoul, though the state-run Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety said the levels, which were measured at up to 1,400 nanosivert per hour, were not hazardous to human health.

After hours of examination, the agency said asphalt materials appeared to be to blame.

On Saturday, the city government said that the Wolgye-dong road was paved with asphalt in 2000, and that it will conduct radioactivity tests on the city’s all asphalt roads paved in the same year.

The city also plans to look into 16 suppliers of asphalt and concrete pavement materials for radioactivity contamination, officials said. 

(Yonhap News)