Japan - Government to ban rice planting in some radioactive fields

[kristopher]

BY SATOSHI OTANI STAFF WRITER
Asahi Shimbun

The government plans to prohibit rice planting in fields where the concentration of radioactive cesium exceeds 5,000 becquerels per kilogram of soil.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Friday that the new bans would apply to areas beyond the current 30 kilometer exclusion zone around the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. Rice production within the 30-km zone is already effectively banned.

An analysis by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries found that 10 percent of cesium in soil is absorbed into rice by the time of harvest.

The safety standard for cesium in rice is a maximum of 500 becquerels per kg of rice, so the ministry decided that the corresponding standard for soil should be 5,000 becquerels per kg of soil.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan will issue the prohibition to...

http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201104090153.html

[artesman]

1. I wonder what the data is

on when that land will ever become usable again

[kestrel91316]

2. But the radiation is just like flying at altitude for two hours. Why

the fuss???

:sarcasm: