#Radioactive Rice: 630 Bq/kg Cesium from Rice in Fukushima City

For those of you who wrote to me that Fukushima rice was "safe" because it all "tested" well below the safety limit of 500 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium, sorry. NHK has a piece of bad news for you.

630 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium has been detected from the rice grown and harvested in Onami District of Fukushima City in Fukushima. It was discovered only because one farmer asked the local JA to test his rice.

The video clip accompanying the NHK News says 630 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium from brown rice, and 300 becquerels/kg from white (milled) rice.

The entire Onami District was declared good to ship the rice, after the Fukushima prefectural government tested 2 samples in one location in Onami District.

Onami District of Fukushima City has high radiation contamination, and that's where the volunteers have been sent to "decontaminate", scooping out the sludge in the drain by hand, among other pleasant activities. (If you read Japanese, here's a report by very pro-nuke Nikkei Business on "decontamination" volunteering in Onami: http://t.co/pSgB131c)

NHK News Japanese (11/16/2011):

福島市大波地区の１か所の水田で収穫されたコメから、国の暫定基準値を超える１キログラム当たり６３０ベクレルの放射性セシウムが検出されたことが分かりました。福島県は、この水田を含む大波地区について、今年度のコメの出荷を見合わせるよう要請しました。

It has been revealed that 630 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium, exceeding the national provisional safety limit, was detected from the rice harvested in a location in Onami District of Fukushima City [in Fukushima Prefecture]. Fukushima Prefecture has requested the farmers in Onami District to refrain from shipping this year's crop.

福島県によりますと、福島市大波地区の農家が１か所の水田で収穫したコメについて、今月１４日、農協に放射性物質の検査を依頼したところ、簡易検査で国の暫定基準値の１キログラム当たり５００ベクレルを超える放射性セシウムの値が検出されました。

According to Fukushima Prefecture, a farmer in Onami District of Fukushima City asked the local JA (agricultural co-op) to test his rice harvested in one of his rice paddies for radioactive materials. In a simplified test administered by the JA, radioactive cesium exceeding 500 becquerels/kg was detected which exceeded the national provisional safety limit.

このため福島県が改めて検査したところ、玄米から１キログラム当たり６３０ベクレルの放射性セシウムが検出されたということです。検出された農家が収穫したコメは、今年度およそ８４０キログラムあるということですが、市場には流通していないということです。検査結果を受けて福島県は、この農家の水田を含む福島市大波地区の今年度のコメの出荷を見合わせるよう要請しました。

Fukushima Prefecture then tested again, and 630 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was detected from the brown rice. The farmer has about 840 kilograms of rice harvested, but it is not being sold in the market. Upon receiving the test result, the Fukushima prefectural government requested all the rice harvested in Onami District of Fukushima City, including that of this farmer, to be not shipped this year.

福島県が先月行った放射性物質の量を調べる「本検査」では、大波地区にあたる旧小国村は、２か所で検査が行われましたが、放射性セシウムは、国の暫定基準値を大幅に下回る１キログラム当たり３３ベクレルと２８ベクレルしか検出されず、県はこの地区のコメの出荷を認めていました。福島県では、この農家を含めた大波地区の農家１５４戸について、さらに詳しい調査を行うとともに原因を調べることにしています。

In the "main survey" that Fukushima Prefecture conducted last month to measure radioactive materials in rice, two locations in the former Oguni-mura in Onami District were tested. Radioactive cesium detected there were vastly below the national provisional safety limit, at 33 becquerels/kg and 28 becquerels/kg, and the prefectural government allowed the shipment from the entire district. The Fukushima prefectural government plans to conduct a detailed survey of [the rice harvested in] all 154 farms in Onami district, and investigate the cause [of high radioactive cesium content].

Well, the cause is Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

The governor of Fukushima Prefecture, the "world-famous" Yuhei Sato, had declared Fukushima rice to be "safe" and vowed to mount an aggressive PR campaign to promote the rice harvested in Fukushima throughout Japan. Koriyama City in Fukushima Prefecture, also with high radiation contamination, has started to feed school children with locally grown and harvested rice.

Oops.

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