July 28, 2011

The Japanese government's task force on nuclear disaster is taking step to suspend shipments of all beef cattle raised in the Miyagi prefecture.

The government will issue the instruction as early as Thursday (Jul 28) based on the special law for dealing with damage from nuclear accidents, informed sources said.

Radioactive cesium exceeding the legal limit of 500 becquerels per kg has been detected in cows shipped from several farms in the prefecture.

Miyagi would be the second prefecture to have shipments of all beef cattle suspended, after neighbouring Fukushima Prefecture, home to Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, which continues releasing radioactive materials into the environment after being knocked out by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

A number of beef cows shipped from Miyagi and other prefectures were found to have been tainted with cesium after being fed with rice straw contaminated with the substance.

The Miyagi prefecture will conduct radiation tests on all beef processed in the prefecture from August.

But the central government believes that cow shipments from the prefecture should be suspended in order to secure the safety, the sources said.

According to the prefecture, a total of 1,031 Miyagi cows fed with contaminated rice straw had been shipped as of noon Wednesday. Radioactive cesium exceeding the legal limit was detected from six of the cows.