Fear of radiation poisoning from Japanese products is forcing exporters to conduct extensive radiation tests on products being shipped overseas.
Fear of radiation poisoning from Japanese products is forcing exporters to conduct extensive radiation tests on products being shipped overseas.
As Japanese industry tries to pick itself up from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the demand for time-consuming and costly testing to reassure foreign clients about fallout from the accidents at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is emerging as a significant obstacle to recovery for some companies.
Nissan Motor Co. has been measuring radiation levels on cars being shipped from its port at Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, since March 18.
On the morning of April 22, cars manufactured at the company's Oppama plant, also in Kanagawa Prefecture, lined the docks. Workers checked the center of the hood, tires and the center of the steering wheel for radioactive contamination. It took about five minutes to inspect each car.
No unusual levels of radiation were detected on any Nissan car.
The Fukushima prefectural government has provided free radiation testing for local companies since early April. The Fukushima Technology Center in Koriyama, which conducts the tests, says it has received about 1,000 inquiries.
It takes the inspectors about 10 minutes to conduct a test. A report with a photo attached is compiled in about an hour.
By April 15, 120 companies had brought in 500 products and parts for testing. In only one case was possible radiation contamination detected. The reading fell after the product was wiped off.
An executive of a firm making plastic wrapping materials, which had requested a test, said: "A foreign manufacturer to which we sell our products asked for testing. We believe it was an overreaction."
An executive of a metal processing company said: "We asked for the testing because we didn't want to have our products stopped from entering ports in the West. However, we have close to 700 items in our export range so it will be impossible to test all of them."
The Fujitsu Ltd. subsidiary Fujitsu Isotec Ltd., which makes printers in Date, Fukushima Prefecture, said it had received a request for testing from a Taiwanese customer in April. Fujitsu is planning to distribute at least 50 radiation testing devices to group factories handling goods for export.
Many nations are testing radiation levels on Japanese non-food products, despite a lack of established international standards defining unacceptable levels. A European Union directive advised member nations to use a standard of 0.2 microsieverts per hour for manufactured products.
Shinichi Sasaki, executive vice president at Toyota Motor Corp., said: "There are a very small number of nations that have refrained from delivering our vehicles until (the nuclear plant) situation settles down."
The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association has established its own radiation testing standards to try to allay fears abroad.
A Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry official said: "We will inform foreign nations about the safety of Japanese manufactured products because there are no problems related to radiation."
But, so far, no official certification has been offered by the central government to help exporters.
A Fukushima prefectural government official responsible for radiation testing said: "The central government should establish procedures and standards to allow people to objectively decide if the testing is appropriate. We also hope they will make greater efforts to publicize our efforts in English."
(This article was written by Koji Nishimura, Ken Miyazaki and Satoshi Daiguji.)