Japan Finds Radiation in Rice

Japan is currently conducting tests on rice growing near a destroyed nuclear power plant, after finding elevated levels of radiation in the crop, according to government officials on Sunday.

A sample of the unharvested rice contained 500 bacquerels of cesium per kilogram, they said. This is right on the line of what is considered a "safe" amount of radiation in food.

Radioactive cesium was leaked from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant after it was heavily damaged by the massive earthquake and following tsunami back on March 11 of this year.

According to regulations in Japan, rice with up to 500 becquerels of cesium per kilogram is considered safe for consumption. Officials have tested rice from more than 400 locations in the Fukushima prefecture. The highest level of cesium they were able to find was 136 becqurels per kilogram, said prefectural official Kazuhiko Kanno.

Japanese media jumped on the news of the elevated radiation level in rice located in Nihonmatsu city, which is 35 miles west of the nuclear plant.

The government has also been conducting tests on other crops of vegetables, as well as fish, making sure that they don't have elevated levels of dangerous radiation.

In the March 2011 natural disaster, backup generators and cooling systems in the power plant failed and the cores of three reactors melted, causing the leak of radiation. The government has regularly been testing crops, fish and more for radiation since the incident.

As a result, some nations have stopped important food from Japan, raising concerns about the state of their economy. While Japanese consumers are nervous about the possibility of radiation being in their food, they have largely rallied around the campaigns to buy from Fukushima and are giving their support.

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