Thousands evacuate as Fukishima nuclear emergency is declared

[Magda Hassan]

Gov't to allow use of less-demanding radiation detector for beef

Prefectural officials interview livestock farmers after radioactive cesium was detected in cattle raised in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, on July 10. (Mainichi)

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The government is set to allow inspection of beef for radiation contamination using more widely available, less-demanding detectors as it prepares to impose broader beef cattle screening to contain the widening food scare, government officials said Friday.
The decision comes when there is a limited number of regularly used equipment, called a germanium semiconductor detector, available to monitor radioactive materials in beef from all cattle in areas where straw containing radioactive cesium above the government-set limit has been found.
Detailed inspection will continued to be required near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant after the government ordered to screen all cattle shipped from Fukushima Prefecture.
The government is under pressure to step up its measures to contain the beef scare as fears of radiation taint spreads from vegetables and seafood to livestock products, scaring consumers away from beef and causing the meat's wholesale prices to drop.
The government is considering setting a more stringent safety limit for inspection with the lighter version of detectors and requiring a detailed check for beef screened out by the initial monitoring.
The equipment for quick inspection is about one-tenth the cost of more than 20 million yen of the germanium semiconductor detector and takes one hour or less to gauge radioactive materials, against hours of the conventional device.
More than 1,600 cattle suspected of being fed contaminated rice straw have been shipped, reaching all but Okinawa Prefecture.

(Mainichi Japan) July 23, 2011