Blanket radiation checks on rice from Fukushima Prefecture under debate

November 5, 2017

Fukushima- Blanket radiation checks on rice produced in nuclear disaster-hit Fukushima Prefecture have come under debate because no rice exceeding the safety limit has been found in recent years.

Some people, including producers, in the northeastern Japan prefecture call for continuing the current system because there are consumers who still avoid Fukushima produce. But the blanket checks are costly and require a lot of manpower.

The prefectural government hopes to decide by year-end whether to change the radiation checks, starting with rice that will be harvested next year, officials said.

The blanket checks were introduced after many parts of the prefecture was contaminated with radioactive substances released because of the 2011 nuclear disaster at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s Fukushima No. 1 power plant.

Fukushima rice is put through radiation checks bag by bag before shipment. The safety limit is set at 100 becquerels per kilogram of rice.

Rice that has passed the checks gets certification labels attached on the bags before being put through distribution channels.

According to Fukushima officials, the total amount of rice harvested last year and checked by the end of September this year reached 10.26 million bags.

To cover the expenses, the prefectural government collects 5 billion yen from TEPCO each year. Some 500 million to 600 million yen in personnel expenses are covered with state subsidies.

The prefecture conducted radiation checks on 53.13 million bags in total for 2012-2016 rice. The total costs reached 30.5 billion yen.

The blanket check system began with the 2012 rice. At that time, 71 of the 867 bags checked exceeded the safety limit. But no such rice was detected at all for the 2014-2016 rice.

As of Oct. 25 this year, radiation levels stood below the minimum detectable level of 25 becquerels for 99.99 pct of the 2016 rice that went through the checks.

The absence of above-limit rice has led some people to question the blanket check system. The continuance of the system may be making the unintended effect of fueling consumer concern about Fukushima rice, one critic said.

To discuss the fate of the blanket system, the prefecture set up a group with members of agricultural and consumer organizations in July this year.Jiji Press