EU sets limits on imports from Japan

[nadinbrzezinski]

EU sets levels

The European Union has formally set maximum radiation levels for imported food from Japan. The new levels, published on 12 April, replace earlier provisional levels for isotopes of strontium, iodine, plutonium and trans-plutonium alpha emitters and all other nuclides with a half-life greater than 10 days, notably caesium-134 and -137. Different maximum levels apply to foods for infants and young children, milk and dairy produce, liquid foodstuffs and other foodstuffs, with the most stringent limits on foods for infants and young children.

Maximum levels for caesium-134 and -137 and iodine isotopes have also been formally set for imported feeds.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS-Most_fuel_in_Fukushima_4_pool_undamaged-1404117.html

Ok why hasn't OUR government done the same?

And yes, this is from a pronuclear site

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Kick

[Raksha]

2. This is going to destroy the Japanese economy, and they've suffered enough as it is.

I feel so bad for them, but what other options are there for the rest of the world? The U.S. is going to have to do the same--and sooner rather than later.

[Art_from_Ark]

4. It's not going to destroy the Japanese economy

Food exports make up a tiny proportion of Japan's total exports. However, it will probably hurt Japanese food exporters if the EU imposes excessive limitations.

[Raksha]

6. I wasn't only referring to their food exports.

But if the food isn't safe for export, it isn't safe for the Japanese to eat either. That means lose their food security and have to depend on imports even more than they do now. I believe they already import most of their rice from California. And what happens to the fishing industry? Also, I wonder how big the dead zone around Fukushima is going to be by the time they finally get the reactors under control. We still don't have any idea when that will happen, and I don't think anyone else does either. I can easily (too easily) imagine half the country deciding to emigrate in the next few years. I truly wish I could be more upbeat, but I just don't see any good outcomes here.

[Art_from_Ark]

7. I am in Japan

One hundred miles from the reactors. With the exception of spinach, all food grown outdoors in this prefecture (state), which extends all the way up to about 30 miles from Daiichi, has been deemed by the prefectural/state government to be safe for eating. The prefectural government takes measurements at various farming areas, and if the readings for produce are too high (exceed maximum values), the produce from that area is not allowed into the market. I have visited several fruit and vegetable vendors and they have a list of radiation levels of locally-grown produce that is put out by their respective municipalities.

Also, Japan imports very little rice, from California or elsewhere. Nearly all of it is home-grown. Japan will suffer a bit because Fukushima is the country's 4th largest producer of rice, but rice grown in most areas of the country will not be affected.

[franzia99]

8. What's the situation like over there?

[Art_from_Ark]

13. Right now, the earthquakes are scarier to me than the radiation threat

We've had some rockers recently, aftershocks they call them, but they are earthquakes in the truest sense. Sometimes they're just a rumble and a quiver or two, other times they have knocked stuff off my shelves and shaken the walls so much I think I have blurred vision.

For the first two or three weeks after the initial disaster, there were shortages of some foods, as well as gasoline, but the store shelves are gradually filling up, and there are no longer gas lines (although gasoline is about a dollar a gallon more expensive now than it was before the disaster).

Some roads are still in pretty bad shape, it will take a while to get them all repaired. And some rail lines are still in bad shape as well, but they seem to be making progress in getting them back in operation.

I will admit for the first couple of weeks after the initial disaster or so, I was pretty freaked out. One day there were several large earthquakes in relatively rapid succession in the vicinity of the reactors, and seeing where X marked the spot on small earthquake maps, I got a sickening feeling that they were from nuclear-induced explosions. But further investigation revealed that they had originated from a mountainous area several miles away from the reactors. Since that time, I have calmed down a bit, especially after gathering information from a wide variety of sources about radiation levels, etc. And the US Embassy has recently updated its travel advisory for Japan, removing the caution about "unnecessary" travel to my area. The 50-mile recommended evacuation zone around the reactors is still in effect, though. :hi:

[franzia99]

I'm glad you're staying strong through this. Are there any charities that have been particularly

helpful from what you can see in the area? I've heard there have been delays with the Redcross. I was reading a story where someone was saying they were only getting two slices of bread to eat a day at one of the evacuation shelters. If that's true it makes me mad that the money isn't getting to where it's supposed to go. So it'd be nice to know who will make the best use of donation money.

[Art_from_Ark]

17. Several affected cities have set up special bank accounts for donations

I imagine that you could send a donation by international wire transfer if you wanted to send it directly to a stricken city. Maybe Western Union also has a system for that?

The Japanese Red Cross is a darn good organization. The problem is, the disaster area is so extensive, and the Red Cross is literally swamped with work. And it's still not easy to reach some of the worst-hit areas.

There are donation collection boxes set up at check-out counters in some stores here. There are also cities that are appealing for donations of actual goods.

On edit:
In the following thread, posts #26 and 46 provide information about alternate ways to donate:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x572522#572920

[Art_from_Ark]

11. A couple more observations

Given my experience with the European reaction to the disaster, I think they will overreact when it comes to standards for food from Japan. For example, for a while there, European pilots wouldn't even fly into Japan-- they would only go as far as Inchon (South Korea) and insist on changing to a Japanese/Korean crew for the remainder of the flight to Japan. American pilots and crew-- bless their hearts-- would fly into Japan-- no problem. Germany even closed its embassy for a while (along with Switzerland and Finland). And France apparently issued an evacuation order for my area, while the US Embassy did not.

So if Europe refuses Japanese foods, it won't necessarily mean that they don't meet Japanese standards.

[franzia99]

12. Notice how Japan increased the allowable radiation dosage for plant workers

after this started? Just saying...

Also, Europe dealt with Chernobyl in 1986. Large numbers of people over a thousand miles from the affected plant got cancer. Europeans know the risk of nuclear disaster all too well.

[Art_from_Ark]

14. I imagine it may have been the workers themselves who asked for it to be raised

From all that I have heard, the ones who are there on the ground want to do everything they can to get this situation under control. The whole country is rooting for them. And there may be a bit of the old samurai spirit that is keeping them there despite the dangers.

[franzia99]

15. I agree it's a very admirable thing they're doing.

[JVS]

16. Japan has been an importer of food since before WWII.

[franzia99]

5. GE needs to pony up and support them through this financially

They were the ones with the faulty reactor design. They made 10 billion dollars last year that they didn't pay taxes on and they even received a 1 Billion dollar tax credit. They have the money.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/fukushima-mark-nuclear-reactor-design-caused-ge-scientist/story?id=13141287

Thirty-five years ago, Dale G. Bridenbaugh and two of his colleagues at General Electric resigned from their jobs after becoming increasingly convinced that the nuclear reactor design they were reviewing -- the Mark 1 -- was so flawed it could lead to a devastating accident.

Questions persisted for decades about the ability of the Mark 1 to handle the immense pressures that would result if the reactor lost cooling power, and today that design is being put to the ultimate test in Japan. Five of the six reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which has been wracked since Friday's earthquake with explosions and radiation leaks, are Mark 1s.

"The problems we identified in 1975 were that, in doing the design of the containment, they did not take into account the dynamic loads that could be experienced with a loss of coolant," Bridenbaugh told ABC News in an interview. "The impact loads the containment would receive by this very rapid release of energy could tear the containment apart and create an uncontrolled release."

http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/01/ge-exxon-walmart-business-washington-corporate-taxes.html

The most egregious example is General Electric ( GE - news - people ). Last year the conglomerate generated $10.3 billion in pretax income, but ended up owing nothing to Uncle Sam. In fact, it recorded a tax benefit of $1.1 billion.

[malaise]

10. Corporations get away with murder

THey don't give a flying fugg about people

[petronius]

3. Perhaps we already have these limits?

:shrug:

[malaise]

9. Wow!

K & R