#Radioactive Japan: Cherries from Fukushima City with 61.66 Bq/Kg of Radioactive Cesium

That's not much reduction from last year, particularly when the extensive "decontamination" of fruit trees in Fukushima was carried out last year and earlier this year.

Supermarket chain Ichii, based in Fukushima City, measures radiation in food items that the chain sells to customers. In the result for May 21, 2012, the supermarket chain reports that 61.66 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was detected from cherries grown in Fukushima City.

According to Ichii, the cherries were not for sale but they were from a fruit farmer who wanted them tested prior to the shipment.

Last year, cherries from Fukushima City tested 70 to 96 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium, according to the Fukushima prefectural government webpage for Fukushima produce.

Fukushima Prefecture encouraged fruit farmers in Fukushima to "decontaminate" their fruit trees so that this year's crop would have low cesium (if not no cesium). The methods of decontaminating the fruit trees were:

• Blasting the trees with high-pressure washers

• Scraping off the tree barks with a sickle

In Fukushima City, the latter was the strongly preferred method forced upon the fruit farmers by the local JA, according to Mr. Shuji Akagi, who has been tweeting the scenes from his city with photographs.

Well clearly that didn't prevent cesium from entering the fruit this year. Surprise, surprise.

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