Friday, February 15, 2013

#Radioactive #Fukushima: Fukushima City Residents Want to Eat the Produce They Bring In to Measure Radioactivity, Researchers Oblige


I couldn't tell that was what it was, when I saw the title of an article at one of the local newspapers in Fukushima, but it turned out that was what it was.

Go figure. Let them, at this point. After nearly 2 years, they choose to be there and choose to grow their food and eat it. "Oh we weren't told" doesn't fly any more.

I hope they don't feed it to their children or grandchildren, but hope has been just that, hope.

Fukushima farmers certainly do feed it to the rest of Japan, because they are victims of TEPCO and residents in big cities outside Fukushima owe it to them, in their minds.

From Fukushima Minpo (2/16/2013):

破砕せずに放射性物質測定 福島、機器新たに運用開始へ

Radioactivity measurement without chopping up samples - new equipment will be used in Fukushima

 東北大は19日から福島市のモニタリングセンターで農作物や食品など切り刻まなくても測定できる放射性物質測定器の運用を始める。「1キロも切り刻むのは面倒」「測定した後、食べたい」など市民の要望に応える。

On February 19, Tohoku University will start using the new equipment to measure radioactivity in farm produce and food items without chopping them up at a monitoring center in Fukushima City. It is to respond to the residents' complaints and requests, such as "it's too tedious to chop up 1 kilogram of sample" and "I want to eat it after it's tested".

 測定器は、市放射線対策アドバイザーで、同大大学院工学研究科量子エネルギー工学専攻生活環境早期復旧技術研究センター長の石井慶造教授が開発した。

The new equipment was developed by Professor Keizo Ishii of Tohoku University Graduate School of Engineering Department of Quantum Science who is also an advisor to Fukushima City on radiation countermeasures.

 通常は、放射性物質を感知するセンサー1本を使用するところ、7本使用し、破砕せずに、少量でも測定できることが特徴。籠に農作物や食品を入れたまま機器に入れ5分で測定できる。検出下限値は25ベクレル。0・7キロから3キロまで測定できる。

The regular equipment has one sensor that detects radioactivity. Professor Ishii's equipment will use 7 sensors, and will be able to measure radioactivity without chopping up the samples and in small sample amounts. Farm produce and food items can be left in a basket which is then placed in the equipment, and it takes only 5 minutes to measure. The detection limit is 25 becquerels/kg, and the sample sizes can be from 0.7 kilogram to 3 kilograms.

 これまで同大と福島市が協力し、運用開始に向けてデータなどを集めてきた。担当者は「家庭菜園などの少ない農産物も測って持ち帰ることができる。市民の安心につなげたい」と話している。

Tohoku University and Fukushima City have been collaborating on introducing this equipment. The city official in charge says, "Farm produce in small quantities, as from home gardens, can be measured, and people can take them back home. We want to use this equipment for the peace of mind of the city residents."

 18日から申し込みを受け付け、19日から測定を開始する。測定は火曜から金曜日。問い合わせは 電話080(5737)1507へ。

Residents can sign up on February 18, and the measurement will start on February 19. The measurement is done from Tuesday to Friday every week. For more details, call 080(5737)1507.


Peace of mind for 25 becquerels/kg detection limit. Some peace.

In case you haven't figured it out, they measure radioactivity in Japan not to understand what's been going on but to feel safe. If measuring radioactivity doesn't result in people feeling safe, they don't bother measuring, which is exactly what happened in the very early days of the nuclear accident.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Let them eat cake.

netudiant said...

Why is this not a useful service for the people of the region?
My impression is that this is a poorer area, where many of the people are older and live off their land's produce for the most part. They have received little help and have nowhere to go.
If this scanning helps them avoid the more contaminated products and gives them some comfort, it is not a bad thing imho.

Anonymous said...

>they measure radioactivity in Japan not to understand what's been going on but to feel safe

They also impose bans on things over 100 Bq/Kg, let's not get so cynical. The problem with the previous food contamination detectors is that after conducting the test, the food is inedible, so they would never tell you the level of contamination of the actual ingredients you have just used to prepare a meal. At least with the new device you know that the produce you are going to eat is under 25 Bq/Kg.

Musa Kocaman said...

Türkiye'nin ve dünyanın her yerine nevresim takımlarını burada bulabilirsiniz.

Anonymous said...

Why don't you all do some research on the actual effects of radiation on animals, humans included. The scaremongering has to stop, the Fukushima residents should all go home and carry on their lives where they left off, they will come to no harm. Watch and listen to some of the info available online about Galen Winsor, he explains the science, whereas everyone else seems to be just going by emotion and false beliefs.

Unknown said...

Tohoku University is more on pro nuclear side. IWhat they do sounds like another false safety campaign. The title sound like a bit manipulated. I don't think all the citizens think as it says. Also a length of 5 sec. sound too quick. longer they measure food more radiation could be detected. I think they should go to different measuring center run by the citizens.

Anonymous said...

Mia, the title says what residents who bring their home-grown food say. It would be false if it said "all residents" but it doesn't.

They will go to the official center because they don't want to chop up food, and they want to eat the food afterwards. What makes you think they want to know how much radioactivity their food actually contains? Many of them don't.

Unknown said...

To Anonymous,

The title of this article doesn’t sound right, so I checked the Japanese site. I found that the Japanese newspaper article was 破砕せずに放射性物質測定 福島、機器新たに運用開始へ”which this blog did a very good translation – “Radioactivity measurement without chopping up samples - new equipment will be used in Fukushima”.
However the title of this blog article is:
#Radioactive #Fukushima: Fukushima City Residents Want to Eat the Produce They Bring In to Measure Radioactivity, Researchers Oblige
To check my understanding right or not, I asked my friend, who is a professional translator and was advised as follows:
It should add “Some” in front of Fukushima city Residents otherwise it could mean all the residents.
The title should be like this to avoid misleading the information.

#Radioactive #Researchers Oblige: Fukushima City Residents who Want to Eat the Produce They Bring In to Measure Radioactivity

Anonymous said...

Jesus, since when does anyone have to make the article title as the post title? Don't you have anything better to do, Ms or Mr. June?

Anonymous said...

Mia June, let me direct you to a much better target, where you can raise issues with every single article title and better yet, the content itself: Fukushima Diary. Go there and rejoice.

Anonymous said...

Mia June, I am also a professional translator, and I don't think I've ever heard of "It should add “Some” in front of Fukushima city Residents otherwise it could mean all the residents." Don't pull BS. Go elsewhere.

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