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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