Strict radiation tests for people arriving home
By Lu Feiran, Jia Feishang and Winny Wang |
March 17, 2011, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
PEOPLE arriving in China from Japan and food and water imported from the country must be strictly monitored for radiation, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine has told its local branches.
This was due to uncertainty over how the Fukushima nuclear crisis will develop, the administration said.
As a result, Shanghai is to strengthen radiation checks on people from Japan and their luggage and food from Japan will also be tested for radiation before being allowed in the local market, officials said.
The Shanghai Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau has set up radiation test facilities at airports and seaports. People will be quarantined for observation and treatment if found to be affected.
City officials said the usual imports from Japan were aquatic products, grain, drinking water, potatoes, vegetables and fruit. These would be tested at ports of entry or in laboratories to ensure they were safe.
Officials said the bureau would be keeping a close eye on developments in Japan and taking further measures if necessary.
Meanwhile, dozens of people who came back from Japan went to the Shanghai Institute of Radiation Medicine yesterday morning, asking to be checked to see if they had been affected by radiation leaking from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.
Ni Jinxian, an official at the institute, said the usually quiet out-patient department was busy yesterday. In addition to those showing up in person, they were also dealing with many phone enquiries.
Ni said the institute, which usually runs radiation tests for people at risk from exposure at work, could only carry out basic checks - for skin contamination or iodine levels in the thyroid gland. For further checks, people would have to visit professional state-owned agencies.
Wu Caifa, another institute official, said people who had returned from Japan should not worry too much. "The radiation one receives from an X-ray examination would be more than that of a person who stayed in Japan for a couple of days," Wu said.
Chinese nationals have been evacuated from the worst-hit areas in Japan following last week's massive earthquake and tsunami, a Chinese diplomat said yesterday.
Gong Xiaodong, an official at the Chinese General Consulate in Niigata, told the Xinhua news agency that more than 3,000 Chinese nationals had been evacuated to Niigata from the three worst-hit prefectures - Miyagi, Fukushima and Iwate.
About 600 Chinese left for home yesterday, she said.
Chinese airlines are adding flights and using bigger planes to cater for the Chinese wanting to return from Japan.
China Eastern Airlines, which operates 50 flights a day between China and Japan, is using Airbus jets which can carry some 300-400 passengers from today to March 23.
The Shanghai-based carrier is adding a flight from Pudong International Airport to Niigata and another to Tokyo.
China Southern Airlines operated 26 regular flights between China and Japan yesterday and added flights from Dalian to Tokyo, Harbin to Niigata and Shenyang to Tokyo. The carrier used Boeing jets, which have seating for more than 300 passengers, on the Tokyo route.
Air China added four Beijing-Tokyo flights and two Chongqing-Shanghai-Tokyo flights yesterday and will resume four Beijing-Osaka flights and one Beijing-Nagoya flight today.
This was due to uncertainty over how the Fukushima nuclear crisis will develop, the administration said.
As a result, Shanghai is to strengthen radiation checks on people from Japan and their luggage and food from Japan will also be tested for radiation before being allowed in the local market, officials said.
The Shanghai Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau has set up radiation test facilities at airports and seaports. People will be quarantined for observation and treatment if found to be affected.
City officials said the usual imports from Japan were aquatic products, grain, drinking water, potatoes, vegetables and fruit. These would be tested at ports of entry or in laboratories to ensure they were safe.
Officials said the bureau would be keeping a close eye on developments in Japan and taking further measures if necessary.
Meanwhile, dozens of people who came back from Japan went to the Shanghai Institute of Radiation Medicine yesterday morning, asking to be checked to see if they had been affected by radiation leaking from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.
Ni Jinxian, an official at the institute, said the usually quiet out-patient department was busy yesterday. In addition to those showing up in person, they were also dealing with many phone enquiries.
Ni said the institute, which usually runs radiation tests for people at risk from exposure at work, could only carry out basic checks - for skin contamination or iodine levels in the thyroid gland. For further checks, people would have to visit professional state-owned agencies.
Wu Caifa, another institute official, said people who had returned from Japan should not worry too much. "The radiation one receives from an X-ray examination would be more than that of a person who stayed in Japan for a couple of days," Wu said.
Chinese nationals have been evacuated from the worst-hit areas in Japan following last week's massive earthquake and tsunami, a Chinese diplomat said yesterday.
Gong Xiaodong, an official at the Chinese General Consulate in Niigata, told the Xinhua news agency that more than 3,000 Chinese nationals had been evacuated to Niigata from the three worst-hit prefectures - Miyagi, Fukushima and Iwate.
About 600 Chinese left for home yesterday, she said.
Chinese airlines are adding flights and using bigger planes to cater for the Chinese wanting to return from Japan.
China Eastern Airlines, which operates 50 flights a day between China and Japan, is using Airbus jets which can carry some 300-400 passengers from today to March 23.
The Shanghai-based carrier is adding a flight from Pudong International Airport to Niigata and another to Tokyo.
China Southern Airlines operated 26 regular flights between China and Japan yesterday and added flights from Dalian to Tokyo, Harbin to Niigata and Shenyang to Tokyo. The carrier used Boeing jets, which have seating for more than 300 passengers, on the Tokyo route.
Air China added four Beijing-Tokyo flights and two Chongqing-Shanghai-Tokyo flights yesterday and will resume four Beijing-Osaka flights and one Beijing-Nagoya flight today.
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