FUKUSHIMA--Levels of radioactive cesium in early rice crops from four municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture were below government maximums, according to the Fukushima prefectural government.
FUKUSHIMA--Levels of radioactive cesium in early rice crops from four municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture were below government maximums, according to the Fukushima prefectural government.
Based on the results, all early rice harvested in the prefecture will be authorized for shipment.
The prefecture began pre-harvest radioactivity checks of early rice crops in late August. None of 101 samples taken in the fields of 20 municipalities was found to contain radioactive cesium exceeding the government level.
The prefectural government also released the results of pre-harvest tests on ordinary rice.
Of 51 rice samples from six municipalities, only two samples were found to contain radioactive cesium. Those two samples contained 14 and 98 becquerels per kilogram, well below the government maximum of 500 becquerels per kilogram.
On Sept. 9, the Fukushima Agricultural Technology Center also reported the results of experimental rice cultivation using soil well in excess of the government limit of 5,000 becquerels per kilogram of soil.
Researchers planted rice in five pots of local clay containing cesium. The most contaminated pot contained 63,000 becquerels of cesium per kilogram, but a high of 80 becquerels of cesium per kilogram was detected in the brown rice produced, a center official said.
"As long as soil is under the permissible planting limit of radioactive cesium, there will be no problem with the rice grown there," said Shigeto Fujimura, a senior researcher.
(This article was written by Ryo Inoue and Shunsuke Kimura.)