Nuclear Radiation Detected in a Number
of Countries

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Noted a number of east Asian countries detect the content of iodine-131 radioactive substances in the air of their country. While the count still within unharmful levels, but the governments of those countries chose to act safety by preventing the radioactive contents seeping in through food from Japan.

One is the Chinese government as reported by the Associated Press, the country has detected radioactive iodine-131 with small content in Heilongjiang province in eastern China on Monday, March 28, 2011.

This prompted the China’s Ministry of Health applies the test food and beverages in 14 provinces and several cities in the northeast coastal region of the country. As a country adjacent to the Japanese, the Chinese government worried about radioactive contamination in food and beverages.

Earlier, on Friday last week, the Chinese government banned the import of various food products from Japan. According to the statement of China Quality Supervision Agency, the government banned a variety of livestock products, fruits, vegetables, seafood, and a variety of bottled water products from five regions near Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Same thing happen in the Philippines. According to news station ABS-CBN, Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) detects the existence of isotopes from Japan. However, people should remain calm.

PNRI recorded the radiation levels that are monitored on Tuesday morning, March 29, 2011, still within the normal level, which range from 93-115 nano-Sieverts per hour (NSV / h). In fact the nearest Philippine coastline to the location of the Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima is about 2,500 km from southwest Japan.

However, the Philippine government did not halt food imports from Japan. Philippines Health Minister, Enrique Ona, said the food samples tested from Japan do not contain the radiation that is safe to be marketed.

The only Japanese products is prohibited in the Philippines is chocolate. The Philippine government banned imports of chocolate made from milk taken from four regions near the nuclear reactor, that is, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi and Gunma.

In South Korea, on Tuesday, levels of radioactivity in seven areas in the country, one of them is the South Korean capital, Seoul. South Korea’s Nuclear Safety Agency said the levels are still relatively small, so not harmful to human health.

The South Korean government also banned the import of food from four regions closest to the troubled nuclear reactor in Fukushima.

In addition to testing radiation levels in food from Japan, South Korea also test the fish from its waters, fearing the radiation contamination.

So far, the test results showed all the food did not contain radioactive. Still, Japanese food ban imposed as a precaution.

Perhaps the most surprising news was the detection of radiation that content in the United States rainfall, thousands of kilometers away from the location of nuclear power plants.

Reporting from page MSNBC, radioactive particles found in samples of rain fell in Massachusetts during the past week at 100 locations in the region. That’s according to U.S. surveillance result Environmental Protection Agency’s Radiation Network, which was announced last Sunday, March 27, 2011.

Like other countries, the U.S. also reportedly banned all types of products imported from Japan.

In addition to these countries, other countries including Canada, Australia, Russia, Singapore and Thailand also imposed a ban on imports or perform testing of products from Japan.

Reported by the Huffington Post, the Thai government clearly stated, will destroy all shipments of sweet from the area that affected by radiation in Japan.

Radiation Superfluous?

Banning food from Japan due to fears of radiation contamination is considered too excessive. This was conveyed by Charles Ebinger, energy policy experts from the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, USA.

As published on page Voice of America, Ebinger said most adults in the U.S. on average drank a quart of milk contaminated with radiation equivalent to radiation on a CAT scan every day for one year.

Furthermore, Ebinger said banning foods will damage Japan’s economy, especially economies in the region east of the country. “Eastern Japan relies heavily on agricultural produce and fish, so I guess the economy is badly affected areas due to this ban,” says Ebinger.

Economic losses that will befall Japan due to the ban is said to be increasingly make Japan’s economy increasingly worse. Financial research institute Wells Fargo & co. Japan estimates will fall into recession by the end of this year.

Other research institutions, Moody’s Analytic, estimating the increase in gross domestic product (GDP) of Japan is only one percent this year. Before the disaster, Moody’s Analytic estimates Japan’s GDP reached 1.4 percent this year.

“Consumers and importers everywhere for being too afraid to make mistakes,” said Jeffrey Garten, professor of international trade and finance at Yale University.

“They do not know how bad it is, and they do not believe anyone gives a correct assessment. I think now we’re just getting started in something that is going to last long,” said Garten about Japan radiation.

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