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Ban on rice from nuclear area
Source: Agencies |
November 18, 2011, Friday
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RICE shipments were yesterday banned from an area near the Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant, which has been leaking radiation since it was wrecked in March by an earthquake and tsunami.
Rice with radiation levels exceeding Japan's safety standards was found for the first time since the disaster, which devastated large areas of the northeast coast.
There are 154 rice farmers in the affected area, about 60 kilometers northwest of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, producing about 192 tons of rice a year, a tiny proportion of the nation's total rice output.
The shipment ban comes after a crop harvested by a farmer in the area was found to contain 630 becquerels of radioactive caesium per kilogram, compared with the government-imposed cap of 500 becquerels.
"The rice in question was caught before shipment. Not even a single grain from the patch is in circulation," Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said.
Japan's autumn rice harvest has been closely monitored near the Fukushima plant, 240km northeast of Tokyo, after excessive levels of radiation were found in beef, vegetables and seafood.
The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power, working with the government, hopes to stabilize the reactors at the Fukushima plant by the year-end.
Rice with radiation levels exceeding Japan's safety standards was found for the first time since the disaster, which devastated large areas of the northeast coast.
There are 154 rice farmers in the affected area, about 60 kilometers northwest of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, producing about 192 tons of rice a year, a tiny proportion of the nation's total rice output.
The shipment ban comes after a crop harvested by a farmer in the area was found to contain 630 becquerels of radioactive caesium per kilogram, compared with the government-imposed cap of 500 becquerels.
"The rice in question was caught before shipment. Not even a single grain from the patch is in circulation," Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said.
Japan's autumn rice harvest has been closely monitored near the Fukushima plant, 240km northeast of Tokyo, after excessive levels of radiation were found in beef, vegetables and seafood.
The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power, working with the government, hopes to stabilize the reactors at the Fukushima plant by the year-end.
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