Tokyo: The government said on Saturday that they had found higher than normal levels of radioactive materials in spinach and milk at farms near the nuclear power plants, the first confirmation by officials that the nuclear crisis unfolding at power plants nearby has affected the nation’s food supply.
While officials downplayed the immediate risks to consumers, the findings are likely to further unsettle a nation worried about the long-term effects of the damaged nuclear power plants. The crisis, which has entered its second week, has caused alarm in some countries that fallout from Japan might reach their shores.
Tokyo Electric Power Company, with help from Japan selfdefence force, police and firefighters, continued efforts to cool the damaged reactors on Saturday. About 500 workers connected a transmission line almost a mile long to Reactor No. 2 at the Fukushima Daiichi Power Station.
Restoring power at the reactor could provide a glimmer of hope after days of increasingly dire news that now includes contaminated food. Yukio Edano, the chief cabinet secretary, said that spinach and milk were the only two products that were found with abnormally high levels of radioactive materials. The newly discovered radioactivity contained in the average amount of spinach and milk consumed during an entire year would be equal to the amount received in a single CAT scan.
“These levels do not pose an immediate threat to your health,” Edano said, adding that the health, labor and welfare ministry would provide additional details.
The government is considering conducting more comprehensive tests of agricultural products from areas further away from the damaged reactors to address public anxiety about the country’s food supply, he said.
Food safety inspectors said the amount of iodine-131 found in the tested milk was five times higher than levels deemed safe. They said that the iodine found in the spinach was more than seven times higher. The spinach also contained slightly higher amounts of cesium-137.
Iodine-131 and cesium-137 are two of the more dangerous elements that are feared to have been released from the plants in Fukushima. NYT NEWS SERVICE
While officials downplayed the immediate risks to consumers, the findings are likely to further unsettle a nation worried about the long-term effects of the damaged nuclear power plants. The crisis, which has entered its second week, has caused alarm in some countries that fallout from Japan might reach their shores.
Tokyo Electric Power Company, with help from Japan selfdefence force, police and firefighters, continued efforts to cool the damaged reactors on Saturday. About 500 workers connected a transmission line almost a mile long to Reactor No. 2 at the Fukushima Daiichi Power Station.
Restoring power at the reactor could provide a glimmer of hope after days of increasingly dire news that now includes contaminated food. Yukio Edano, the chief cabinet secretary, said that spinach and milk were the only two products that were found with abnormally high levels of radioactive materials. The newly discovered radioactivity contained in the average amount of spinach and milk consumed during an entire year would be equal to the amount received in a single CAT scan.
“These levels do not pose an immediate threat to your health,” Edano said, adding that the health, labor and welfare ministry would provide additional details.
The government is considering conducting more comprehensive tests of agricultural products from areas further away from the damaged reactors to address public anxiety about the country’s food supply, he said.
Food safety inspectors said the amount of iodine-131 found in the tested milk was five times higher than levels deemed safe. They said that the iodine found in the spinach was more than seven times higher. The spinach also contained slightly higher amounts of cesium-137.
Iodine-131 and cesium-137 are two of the more dangerous elements that are feared to have been released from the plants in Fukushima. NYT NEWS SERVICE
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