19,507 Bq Radioactive Cesium from a Man in Fukushima Who's Been Eating Shiitake Mushrooms with More Than 140,000 Bq/kg of Cesium

Mind-boggling numbers, but I'm sure they will be dismissed as "no effect on health" because the man is in his 70s.

Another man was found with 11,191 becquerels. Their wives were also found with high levels of radioactive materials in their bodies.

Why? They have been eating food that they grow.

From Mainichi Shinbun (8/22/2012; link added) reporting the news that the health section at Asahi Shinbun reported in early August:

内部被ばく：自家栽培の野菜食べ　福島の男性２人

Two men in Fukushima with internal radiation exposure from eating home-grown vegetables

市場に流通しない自家栽培の野菜を食べた福島県の７０代男性２人が、比較的高い１万ベクレル超の放射性物質を取り込む内部被ばくをしていたことが、東京大医科学研究所の調査で分かった。うち１人は約２万ベクレルに達したが、これによる被ばく線量は年０．８５ミリシーベルトで、国が設けた食品からの被ばく限度（年１ミリシーベルト）は下回った。調べた坪倉正治医師は「健康被害が出るレベルではないが、自家栽培の野菜などを食べる場合は検査してほしい」と話す。

A survey by the Tokyo University Institute of Medical Science has revealed that two men in their 70s in Fukushima Prefecture who have been eating home-grown vegetables that are not sold to the market have internal radiation exposure with relatively high amount of radioactive materials, exceeding 10,000 becquerels. One of them has about 20,000 becquerels, which would translate to 0.85 millisievert [internal] exposure in one year. It is still lower than the internal radiation exposure limit from food (1 millisievert/year) set by the national government. Dr. Masaharu Tsubokura, who conducted the survey, says, "It may not be the level that would affect health, but I would like people to test the food they grow before eating them."

２人の男性は、同県川俣町と二本松市在住。今年７〜８月、内部被ばく量を測定する装置「ホールボディーカウンター」を使い、体内の放射性セシウム（１３４と１３７）の量を調べた。その結果、川俣町の男性からは１万９５０７ベクレル、その妻からは７７２４ベクレルが検出された。二本松市の男性の内部被ばく量は１万１１９１ベクレル、妻は６７７１ベクレルだった。いずれも東京電力福島第１原発事故で放出された放射性セシウムを食品から取り込んだとみられる。

One of the two men lives in Kawamata-machi, and the other lives in Nihonmatsu City. They were tested for internal radiation exposure by using the Whole Body Counter to measure radioactive cesium (cesium-134 and -137) in their bodies in July and August this year. The man in Kawamata-machi was found with 19,507 becquerels, and his wife was found with 7,724 becquerels. The man in Nihonmatsu City was found with 11,191 becquerels, and his wife 6,771 becquerels. For all of them, it is assumed that they have ingested radioactive cesium released by the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident through food.

川俣町の夫婦は、同県浪江町の原木で自家用に栽培したシイタケや自宅近くで採ったタケノコ、干し柿などを毎日食べており、シイタケからは１４万ベクレルを超す放射性物質が検出された。二本松市の夫婦は、この夫婦からもらった野菜を食べていたという。

The husband and wife in Kawamata-machi have been eating shiitake mushrooms they grow on the logs from Namie-machi [in Fukushima Prefecture], bamboo shoots harvested near their home, and dried persimmons. From the mushrooms, over 140,000 becquerels/kg of radioactive materials [cesium] was found. The couple in Nihonmatsu City has been eating the vegetables given by the couple in Kawamata-machi.

Shiitake logs from Namie-machi... It seems no one bothered to tell them that Namie-machi is probably more heavily contaminated than some of the towns closer to the Fukushima plant. Being in their 70s, their news sources are likely to be the traditional media such as newspapers and TV.

Kawamata-machi is located just west of Iitate-mura, another heavily contaminated location in Fukushima.

Dr. Tsubokura says in the original Asahi article that these levels of internal radiation exposure are seen in Belarus.

However, one of the strange things I've noticed since April 1 this year when the new safety standard of 100 Bq/kg of radioactive cesium was put in place is that people in general don't care much about food contamination any more. It was a big deal, literally up until March 31, the last day under the provisional 500 Bq/kg safety level. If a food item was found with double-digit cesium per kilogram, people were worried.

But now, with the safety limit of 100 Bq/kg and the detection limit of 20 bq/kg using NaI scintillation survey meters (which I think is too high for comfort), less and less people care if a food item is found with, say 60, 70 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium. It doesn't make a headline news any more (though it is duly reported in the media).

Instead, they worry about a nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture, boy-wonder mayor of Osaka, Friday "single issue" protests at the Prime Minister's Official Residence in Tokyo.

They are good ways to not have to deal with the issues at hand, which remain, in my personal opinion, radioactive materials from the nuclear accident in the environment and how to deal with them.

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#Radioactive Firewood Resulted in 43,780 Bq/Kg Radioactive Ashes in Nihonmatsu City

So, clearly there was a good reason why IAEA went to measure the radiation levels in Nihonmatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture when they came in March 2011 right after the March 11 nuclear accident.

From Jiji Tsushin (1/19/2012):

環境省は１９日、福島県二本松市内の民家で使用されたまきストーブの灰から、１キロ当たり４万３７８０ベクレルの放射性セシウムが検出されたと発表した。

The Ministry of the Environment announced on January 19 that 43,780 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was detected from the ashes in a wood stove used in a personal residence in Nihonmatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture.

Ashes are used as soil amendment.

The safety standards for firewood and charcoal were not even in place until November last year. According to the Forestry Agency, the safety limit for firewood is 40 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium, and 280 becquerels/kg for charcoal so that the resultant ashes would not contain more than 8,000 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium.

The Agency's Q&A says:

From the incineration tests, when 1 kg of firewood is burned it results in 5 grams of ashes, and 1 kg of charcoal in 30 grams of ashes, with 90% of radioactive cesium remaining in the ashes.

That means radioactive cesium density in 1 kg of ashes is 182 times as much as that of 1 kg of firewood, and 28 times as much as that of 1 kg of charcoal.

2% of radioactive cesium in firewood/charcoal, when used in cooking, was transferred to the food.

Oh wait a minute. 10% of radioactive cesium that is in the wood/charcoal is released in the air when burned?

Reading further, the Agency openly encourage the bundling of radioactive firewood/charcoal that exceed the safety limit with those without any cesium detected:

It is OK to bundle firewood or charcoal that exceed the safety standard with firewood or charcoal that does not exceed the safety standard, and sell the bundle as long as it is not shipped across the prefectural border. [What's the point of that?]

To dispose the ashes of unknown radioactive cesium density, do not use as soil amendment in gardens and farmlands. Dispose them appropriately as waste products.

How?

The Agency does not say. I don't think ANY seller of firewood or charcoal is measuring the radioactivity, and I don't think any user of wood stove who gets the wood from the mountains in their backyard is measuring it either.

They say that's how the soil contamination after the Chernobyl accident remained high - cut the woods that were doused with radioactive materials, burn them in stoves for heat and cooking, use the ashes as soil amendment to grow food.

That's happening in Japan now, thanks partly to bureaucrats in the government ministries but also to the general public who still don't connect the March 11 Fuku I accident with radioactive materials all around them.

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"Radioactive" Crushed Stones Used over 400 Job Sites in at Least 4 Cities in Fukushima

I put the word radioactive in parenthesis in the title because I'm not fully convinced that the crushed stones from the stone pit in the planned evacuation zone in Namie-machi are the only cause of the elevated radiation in the apartment in Nihonmatsu City in Fukushima.

Nevertheless, the latest news on the "radioactive" crushed stones is:

• The stones were sold and widely used in construction of apartments, houses, and roads in at least 4 municipalities including Fukushima City in Fukushima Prefecture;

• The Nihonmatsu city government knew about the high radiation exposure of the residents in the apartment back in December but didn't tell the residents.

• The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry knew about it on December 28, 2011 when the city emailed the Ministry asking for guidance, but didn't do anything until January 10, 2012 because it was New Year's Day holiday and then a long weekend on January 7, 8 and 9.

• The residents in the apartment weren't informed at all, until the news finally broke in the media.

Oh and one typically Japanese bit of information: the concrete company in Nihonmatsu City who delivered the concrete with these crushed stones in it for the apartment foundation has since closed business, and they already destroyed all the documents detailing how much concrete was sold to which job site. Probably only to emerge as a new company under a new name, as often happens in Japan.

Many residents of the apartment are evacuees from Minami Soma City and Namie-machi, having escaped the radiation from the Fukushima I Nuclear Plant accident, only to receive added extra by settling in Nihonmatsu City in this apartment.

First from Sankei Shinbun archived at a message board, as Sankei's news links may not last long (1/17/2012):

福島県二本松市内のマンション１階の室内から、屋外より高い放射線量が測定された問題で、同じ材料のコンクリートが一般住宅などでも使われていることが１６日、生コンクリート業者の話で分かった。この材料を使った用水路からも、比較的高い放射線量が測定された。また、経済産業省が最初の報告を昨年末に受けていたことも明らかになった。

Concerning the detection of radiation inside an apartment in Nihonmatsu City in Fukushima Prefecture that was higher than outside, the same concrete mix was also used in the construction of single-family houses, according to the concrete company. Relatively high level of radiation has also been detected at an irrigation channel. It has also been revealed that the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry had received the first report at the end of last year.

　砕石会社「双葉砕石工業」によると、昨年３月の原発事故後から同４月２２日にかけて、石約５２８０トンを県内の１９社に出荷した。問題のマンション基礎部分のコンクリートと同じコンクリートを使った二本松市内の農業用水路で、毎時１・６２～１・９７マイクロシーベルトが測定された。

According to the stone pit operator Futaba Saiseki Kogyo, the company shipped about 5,280 tonnes of stones from March 11 to April 22 last year to 19 companies in Fukushima Prefecture. The radiation levels of 1.62 to 1.97 microsievert/hour have been detected at the concrete foundation of the apartment and at an irrigation channel in Nihonmatsu City.

　生コン業者によると、福島県二本松市周辺の戸建て住宅で、土台に同じ石を使った生コンを使用。別の生コン業者もマンション以外に県内の一般住宅で使用したという。市内の小学校に隣接する道路でもこの砕石が使われていた。

According to the concrete company, the same concrete mix was used for foundations of single family houses around Nihonmatsu City. The other concrete company also delivered the concrete mix to build single family houses in Fukushima Prefecture. The crushed stones were also used [as substrate] for the road next to an elementary school in Nihonmatsu City.

　また、経産省によると、このマンションをめぐっては昨年１２月２８日、二本松市から、市の調査でマンション１階の住民の被曝（ひばく）線量が高いとメールで相談があった。しかし２階部分は放射線量が高くなく、同省はコンクリートが原因であると結論は出さなかった。

According to the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry received an email from Nihonmatsu City regarding the high radiation exposure level of a resident who lived on the first floor of the apartment [a girl wearing the glass badge]. Since the radiation levels were not high on the 2nd floor, the Ministry didn't think it was the concrete that was the problem.

[Wait a minute... If the 1st floor had high radiation and the 2nd floor didn't, wouldn't it be logical to conclude the radiation could be coming from the floor and below?]

　年明け５日ごろに、同市などの調査で砕石が原因の可能性が高まり、６日ごろに再び同市から経産省に報告があった。このため同省は、連休明けの１０日から詳しい調査に乗り出したという。

Around January 5, 2012, the city's investigation identified the crushed stones as a possible culprit, and the city contacted the Ministry again on January 6. The Ministry started its investigation on January 10, after the long weekend.

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　高い放射線量が検出された新築マンションでは、１階住民を中心に移転先を探す動きが出始めた。住民の中には、一部が警戒区域などにかかる浪江町や南相馬市から避難している家族もいる。「もうこりごりだ」「寝耳に水」。動揺と憤りが交錯した。

In the newly built apartment where the high levels of radiation have been detected, the residents on the 1st floor have started to look for a new place to live. Some of the residents in the apartment are families from Namie-machi and Minami Soma City; part of Namie and Minami Soma is inside the no-entry zone. "We've just had enough." "Complete surprise." They are confused and angry.

　管理会社によると、マンションには、全１２世帯が居住。２階に住む、主婦の山崎ひろ子さん（６３）は中学３年と小学５年の孫娘２人らと浪江町から避難してきた。孫には、外出時にマスクをさせてきた。

According to the rental management company, there are 12 families living in the apartment. Hiroko Yamazaki, 63-year-old housewife, evacuated from Namie-machi with two granddaughters, 9th grader and 5th grader. She has made them wear masks when they go outside.

　山崎さんは「（線量が）高いと分かった時点ですぐに教えてほしかった。（孫娘らの）健康に影響がないか不安だ」と動揺を隠せない。

Yamazaki cannot hide her agitation, and says, "I wish they told us when they found out the radiation level was high. I'm worried for the health of my granddaughters."

　また、同じ浪江町から家族で避難してきた住民の男性会社員（３３）も「せっかく避難してきたのに、また放射能に苦しむなんてこりごりだ」とやりきれない表情を見せた。

A 33-year-old office worker who has evacuated also from Namie-machi with his family says, "For all that trouble to evacuate, we still have to suffer radiation. We've had enough."

　管理会社によると、高い線量が計測された土台に近い１階に住む幼い子供を持つ家族が移転を決意。同社と二本松市で連携しながら移転先を見つけ、近日中に引っ越すという。

The management company says one family on the 1st floor with small children has decided to move out. The company will cooperate with Nihonmatsu City to find the substitute housing, and the family hopes to move in a few days.

　また、他家族にも希望者がいるが、移転先確保は難航しそうだ。二本松は原発事故で大量の避難者が流入してきた地域で、賃貸住宅の空きがない状態が続いているという。

There are others who want to move out, but it may be hard to find the substitute housing. Nihonmatsu City has a large number of evacuees fleeing the Fukushima I Nuke Plant accident, and there is hardly any vacancy in rental housing.

Fukushima Minpo (1/17/2012) reports that the stone pit operator Futaba Saiseki Kogyo sold to 2 concrete companies, one in Nihonmatsu who's gone out of business, and one in Motomiya City. They sold concrete mix to 300 companies at over 400 job sites. The stone pit operator also sold to 17 construction companies. The concrete was sold at least in Nimonmatsu City, Motomiya City, Fukushima City, and Ootama-mura.

And counting.

Hiroki Otani, associate professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University who became famous (or infamous, depending on how you view radiation exposure) last year for declaring "it's safe" on TV for just about every single discovery of radiation contamination, says "1 microsievert/hour radiation will not immediately affect health, so no need to worry. But they'd better not live on a yearly basis", meaning there may be health effect if they continue to live there for more than one year. That's good to know that he now qualifies his remark after 11 months.

Well, unfortunately, these people moved from Minami Soma or Namie with the plume from the broken nuclear power plant, first in a northwest direction via Iitate-mura (of all places) and then south. And they stayed in Nihonmatsu City where the IAEA back in March 2011 was measuring 4.2 microsieverts/hour radiation (link in Japanese).

It's just too bad that Professor Hayakawa's map didn't reach any of these people when it may have mattered.

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#Radioactive Apartment Update: Was Radiation from Crushed Stone Used in Foundation?

(Update: The stone pit operator, Futaba Saiseki Kogyo, sold the crushed stones to the concrete company in Nihonmatsu City in Fukushima which has since closed down. There is no record kept at the concrete company of where the concrete was sold and how much. The stone pit operator sold about 1000 tonnes to the concrete company, and the remaining 4000 tonnes or so to 20 construction companies inside Fukushima Prefecture.

The stone pit operator executive says he didn't know much about radiation, and that he would have stopped selling if the government had told him to. Information in Japanese, here and here.)

================================

For now, the media has decided to focus on the aggregate in the concrete used in the foundation of the apartment in Nihonmatsu City, Fukushima. The crushed stones from a stone pit in Namie-machi in the planned evacuation zone just outside the no-entry zone were freely shipped and sold until April 22, and several hundred job sites in Fukushima Prefecture may have used the stones.

Asahi reports slightly different numbers for radiation than reported in Fukushima TV news.

Nihonmatsu City may have known about the high radiation at the apartment since December last year, when the city had the result of the cumulative radiation exposure for children wearing glass badges.

Well, the city couldn't cast any shadow over the prime minister's declaration of "cold shutdown state" of Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, could it?

From Asahi Shinbun (1/16/2012):

福島県二本松市の新築マンションの工事に、東京電力福島第一原発事故で出た放射性物質に汚染されたコンクリートが使われていたことがわかった。マンション１階の床からは屋外より高い放射線量が測定された。同市と国が１５日発表した。

The concrete contaminated with radioactive materials from the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident was used in the construction of an apartment in Nihonmatsu City in Fukushima Prefecture. The radiation from the floor of the 1st floor of the apartment was higher than that of outside. The city and the national government announced on January 15, 2012.

　コンクリの材料に、計画的避難区域内の砕石場の石が使われたのが原因とみられる。同じ材料が数百カ所の工事に使われたとみられ、国は石やコンクリの流通経路を調査している。

The high radiation is thought to be coming from the stones used in the concrete mix; the stones came from a stone pit inside the planned evacuation zone. The same stones have been used in several hundred job sites, and the national government is investigating the distribution routes of the stones and the concrete.

　発表によると、汚染されたコンクリが使われたのは、昨年７月に完成した二本松市若宮地区の鉄筋コンクリート３階建て賃貸マンションの土台部分。１階の室内の高さ１メートルの線量が毎時１．１６～１．２４マイクロシーベルトで、屋外の同０．７～１．０マイクロシーベルトより高かった。２、３階の室内は同０．１０～０．３８マイクロシーベルトという。

According to the announcement, the contaminated concrete was used in the foundation of the 3-story apartment made of ferro-concrete in Wakamiya District of Nihonmatsu City. The apartment was finished construction in July last year. At 1 meter off the floor in a room on the 1st floor, the radiation level is 1.16 to 1.24 microsievert/hour. The radiation level outside is 0.7 to 1.0 microsievert/hour. On the 2nd and 3rd floors, the radiation level inside rooms is 0.1 to 0.38 microsievert/hour.

　コンクリの材料になった石は、計画的避難区域に入っている浪江町南津島の砕石場から搬出。コンクリ会社を通じ昨年４月１１日、マンションの基礎工事に５７．５立方メートルのコンクリが使われた。

The crushed stones used in the concrete were transported from a stone pit in Minami Tsushima in Namie-machi, inside the planned evacuation zone. 57.5 cubic meters of concrete was used in the foundation of the apartment building on April 11 last year.

　砕石場では原発事故前に採取した石を砕き、事故後も屋外に置いて避難区域に指定される同月２２日まで出荷を続けたという。経済産業省などによると、この砕石会社は県内の１９社に計５２００トンを出荷。このうち、マンションにコンクリを納入した二本松市の会社からは県内の百数十社に販売され、数百カ所の工事に使われたとみられるという。

At the stone pit, they crushed the stones that had been picked before the nuclear accident, and the crushed stones were kept outdoors and continued to be sold until the area was designated as evacuation zone on April 22. According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the stone pit operator sold 5200 tonnes of stones to 19 companies in Fukushima Prefecture. The concrete company in Nihonmatsu City who delivered concrete to the apartment site has sold concrete to over 100 companies in Fukushima Prefecture, and the concrete was used at several hundred job sites.

　二本松市は昨年９～１１月、子どもなどの積算線量を計測。マンションに住む女子中学生の３カ月間の線量が１．６２ミリシーベルトと比較的高かったため、市が調べた。マンションには１２世帯が入居している。

Nihonmatsu City measured the cumulative external radiation exposure of children from September through November last year. A female junior high school student who lives in the apartment was found with 1.62 millisievert cumulative radiation for the 3 months, and the city conducted the investigation. There are 12 families living in the apartment.

　マンション１階の室内に２４時間滞在する仮定で計算すると、年間の線量は１０ミリシーベルト前後になる。

If you stay inside a room on the 1st floor of the apartment for 24 hours, the cumulative radiation in one year would be about 10 millisieverts.

NHK runs a similar story, quoting the Ministry of Economy saying it must be the crushed stones from that particular stone pit in Namie-machi. That's the official story.

It's a bit hard to believe hard crushed stones has that much radiation on the surface considering the surface-to-volume ratio. On the other hand, small particles like ashes may. But the official story is set, and the net citizens on blogs and Twitter are left wondering "What about cement? What about additives in concrete? What about steel mesh or rebar?"

It is also convenient to blame everything on one stone pit operator than to have to check every bag of cement from the cement companies.

Another thing that strikes me as odd is the amount of crushed stones sold from this stone pit operator in such a short period of time between the March 11 accident and April 22. I suspect the situation may be similar to the cattle farmers in the planned evacuation zone who managed to sell their cows which were later found with high levels of radioactive cesium, before any rigorous testing started.

Hmmm. This is starting to feel like the radioactive beef and radioactive rice debacles from last year where first denying the problem and then insisting the problem was an exception, and doing perfunctory sample testing totally backfired on the government. We'll see if this story goes quiet very quickly.

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#Radioactive Apartment in Nihonmatsu City, Fukushima, Measuring 1.2 Microsievert/Hr Inside

It looks the glass badge worn by a student who lives in the apartment helped identify the "hot" concrete.

A kind of perverse way to find out about radiation contamination...

From Fukushima TV News (1/15/2012):

二本松市のマンションのコンクリートから比較的高い放射線が確認され環境省ではコンクリートに放射性物質が混入したまま工事が行われたと見て調べています。

Relatively high levels of radiation have been detected from the concrete in an apartment building in Nihonmatsu City [in Fukushima Prefecture]. The Ministry of the Environment suspects that radioactive materials were in the concrete, and is investigating.

問題が発覚したのは二本松市で去年９月に建設されたマンションです。環境省などによりますと先月２７日、マンションに住む生徒が身につけていた積算線量計が３ヶ月で１・５ミリシーベルトと高い値を示したことから二本松市が周辺の調査を行いました。

The apartment was built in September last year in Nihonmatsu City. According to the Ministry of the Environment, the glass badge worn by a student who lives in the apartment registered 3-month cumulative radiation exposure of 1.5 millisievert on December 27, prompting the city to survey the surrounding area.

その結果マンションの基礎部分のコンクリートから毎時１・４マイクロシーベルト前後、室内からも１・２マイクロシーベルト前後が確認されたと言うことです。環境省ではコンクリート内に放射性物質が混入したまま工事が行われたと見て施工業者から事情を聞くなど確認を進めています。

The survey found 1.4 microsievert/hour from the concrete foundation of the apartment, and 1.2 microsievert/hour inside the apartment. The Ministry of the Environment thinks the apartment was built using concrete with radioactive materials, and is asking the building contractor for details.

I wonder if it is just concrete.

If you recall, 446,000 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was detected from the sewage sludge in Fukushima City on May 8, 2011. The sludge had been sold to cement companies until the detection at Koriyama City on April 30, when 26,400 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was detected from their sewage sludge. In the case of Koriyama City, over 900 tonnes of this radioactive sludge had been sold to one cement company (Sumitomo Osaka Cement) alone.

If the surface radiation level of the concrete is 1.4 microsievert/hour, I believe the concrete has at least 100,000 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium in it, if the radiation measurements of sludge and rooftop sediment are any indication.

(UPDATE: I tweeted this news and the information about the radioactive sludge from last year as above in Japanese, and judging by the number of retweets, many Japanese weren't even aware of the highly radioactive sewage sludge was being sold until April 30. Retweets exceeded 100 in probably less than 15 minutes. The news was in the major newspapers then, but I remember people were still sleepwalking, in a way, back then.)

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First Instance of #Radioactive Rice with 500 Bq/Kg of Radioactive Cesium from Nihonmatsu City in Fukushima

Now the government scientists have some explaining to do, because the soil at that location contained only 3,000 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium. The government has used the transfer rate of cesium from soil to rice at 0.1, but in this particular instance, if we believe the number for the soil contamination the transfer rate is more like 0.17.

Nihonmatsu City where the 500bq/kg rice was found is located at about 55 kilometers west from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

Yomiuri Shinbun linked below says it was from Iwashiro District that the radioactive rice was found. But according to the Fukushima prefectural data, the district is not Iwashiro District but Obama District.

From the surveys that have been done so far on rice in locations in Tohoku and Kanto, the transfer rate has been between 0.001 to 0.01, which is what the agricultural scientists have been saying from the beginning.

Now what?

From Yomiuri Shinbun (1:06AM JST 9/24/2011):

福島県は２３日、一般米の放射性物質の予備検査で、二本松市の１検体から国の暫定規制値と同じ１キロ・グラム当たり５００ベクレルの放射性セシウムが検出されたと発表した。

On September 23 Fukushima Prefecture announced the result of the preliminary survey of regular rice, and said one sample from Nihonmatsu City was found with 500 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium. The level is the same as the national provisional safety limit.

　国が定めた重点調査区域を指定する基準の１キロ・グラム当たり２００ベクレルを超えたため、同市全体が重点調査区域になり、計画していた３８地点から約３００地点に増やして本検査が行われる。重点調査区域の指定は初めて。

Since the level exceeded 200 becquerels/kg, which is a standard used to determine whether more rigorous survey is necessary, the entire city of Nihonmatsu is designated as "special survey area", and 300 locations in the city will be tested instead of the planned 38 locations when the real survey starts. It is the first time a "special survey area" is designated.

　基準を超える放射性セシウムが検出されたのは、１２日採取した同市岩代地区のコメ。この水田の土壌の放射性物質濃度は、１キロ・グラム当たり３０００ベクレルだった。ほかの同市産のコメ１８検体は、いずれも基準を下回った。

Radioactive cesium exceeding the standard (of 200 becquerels/kg for "special survey area") was found from the rice sample taken on September 12 from a location in Iwashiro District in Nihonmatsu City. The density of radioactive materials [cesium] in the soil in the rice paddy where the rice was harvested was 3,000 becquerels/kg. 18 other samples from the same city all tested below the standard.

　予備検査ですべての検体が基準を下回った市町村は、本検査で、旧市町村ごとに２検体を調べ、基準を下回れば出荷が認められる。重点調査区域では、約１５ヘクタールごとに２検体を調査する。すべてが国の暫定規制値以下であれば、出荷が認められるが、上回ると旧市町村ごとに出荷停止になる。

Old municipalities [now incorporated into a bigger city, as in the case of Iwashiro District] whose samples all test below the standard [200 becquerels/kg] in the preliminary survey will only need to test 2 samples per district, and if the 2 samples test below the standard the shipment of rice from the entire district will be allowed. In a "special survey area", 2 samples from every 15 hectares will be tested. If all samples test below the national provisional safety limit, then the shipment of rice from the district will be allowed. If one sample exceed the provisional safety limit, the shipment is banned for the entire district.

In Japanese, this type of testing is called "ざる" - pronounced "za-ru" - sieve. It still caught 500 becquerels/kg cesium rice, to the dismay of Fukushima producers and the prefectural government.

Well well. The Fukushima prefectural government sat on the data for 8 days. This particular sample was taken on September 12 along with other samples in Nihonmatsu City, and the other results were published on September 15, which showed the level of radioactive cesium between ND and 61 becquerels/kg.

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