Gov't to buy radioactive rice from Fukushima
TOKYO —
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said Tuesday that it will buy all the rice contaminated with radioactive cesium in Fukushima Prefecture.
Agriculture minister Michihiko Kano said the government will buy all rice with radiation levels exceeding 100 becquerels per kilogram. Ministry officials estimated that about 4,000 tons will have to be purchased, Fuji TV reported.
The cost is expected to top 1 billion yen over the next year. Ministry officials said Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) will be asked to foot the fill, Fuji reported.
Currently, sales of rice from eight areas in the prefecture have been banned due to radiation levels exceeding the safety levels.
Japan Today
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15 Comments
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-1
Elbuda Mexicano
Real nice, buy it WITH OUT TAXES??? and do what?? Donate it to North Korea??
1
Patrick Hattman
Yeah, they'll foot the bill for the 1 billion after getting hundreds of billions of yen more from the central government.
2
zichi
People in Fukushima are consuming foodstuffs with eight times the level of cesium found in foodstuffs elsewhere.
It would be cheaper or at least better if all farming in the eastern part of Fukushima, that is, east of Fukushima City, should be banned or suspended.
TEPCO will foot the bill, a joke yes! for all compensation claims payments just read taxpayer for TEPCO!
0
Elvensilvan
Instead of asking TEPCO to take the tab, just buy out TEPCO ... in the end, it's still the government financing TEPCO payments anyway.
0
edojin
The story above doesn't say what the government will do with the contaminated rice. Just hope it doesn't show up on my dinner table in some form or another.
1
Ranger_Miffy2
What is the J-gov'g going to DO with 4K tons of radioactive RICE? I say, use it for landfill inside the 20K zone of Death. TELL US. Otherwise, it is surely going to school lunches hospitals and prisons. Even North Korea would probably refuse it. So irritating!
2
Farmboy
http://allafrica.com/stories/201112191509.html
They wouldn't, would they?
0
smithinjapan
The question is what are they going to DO with it, not that they're buying it, with the even more no-brainer question being why on earth it was allowed to be grown and harvested? How much do you guys want to bet it's forced on children through school lunches?
The government will ask for 'understanding' and that we all buy and eat equal portions of the rice across Japan to 'share the burden'. Yup, ban the sale of something and then buy it.
-1
Disillusioned
This rice could be eaten if they gave one bowl to every person in Japan, except me and my kids, of course.
I'd guess it will just be stored in the dead zone for a few centuries until it starts to break down naturally.
0
UncleBudah
Farmboy : I think so, They Will
2
warnerbro
"The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said Tuesday that it will buy all the rice contaminated with radioactive cesium in Fukushima Prefecture." I seriously doubt the ministry intends to buy "all" the contaminated rice. It likely means to buy the rice contaminated above the level the government falsely claims to be safe. What of the contaminated rice in other prefectures? A check of the government's maps show that Gunma and Tochigi have large areas just as contaminated as much of Fukushima.
1
Patrick Hattman
@smith:
If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say they will store it in some of the bazillion warehouses they've used to store imported rice in the millions of tons since trade agreements were reached in 1995.
-1
Elbuda Mexicano
I think Japan should make a true, sincere honest gesture of friendship to North Korea and let them eat it. They could even put pretty pictures of their 2 ex dear leaders to make them think it has nothing to do with Japan?? No reason to waste so much food when your poor neighbors are starving, right??
-1
Utrack
I have a feeling this rice is going to get mixed with good rice to lower the bq and the who knows but somebody will be consuming it, unless they take the contaminated rice and turn it into fuel.
0
Utrack
But the rice measuring under 100 bq per kilogram will be sold as good rice right. Scary thought.
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