Dumping Radioactive Food from Japan on the World-Why the TPP is a Pending Disaster
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Economist Robert Reich has laid out the more general dangers of the TPP Trade Agreement in his recent piece “Why the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement is a Pending Disaster”.
However, the biggest risk is that it will allow Japan to dump all of its radioactive food on much of the world. In particular, 10 to 15 times more radiation is allowed in food in the US, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand than in Japan. The US has the weakest “standards” of all, allowing food to have around 1,200 – 1,500 Becquerels per kg [1], i.e. 1,200-1,500 radioactive emissions per second per kg, compared to 100 Bq/kg in Japan. (A kg is 2.2 pounds.) The amount allowed in Japan for children is even less than 100 Bq.
The TPP will allow Japan to more easily export radioactive metal products, as well. It is also a back door to allow Japan to export radioactive food and goods to Europe. Unlike most of the English speaking world, Europe got wise to Japan’s radioactive food export plot and only accepts Japanese food with 100 Bq/kg of radiation, even though the European “standard” is at 600 Bq/kg.
This may also be an economic disaster, especially for US rice farmers, as Japan dumps its radioactive produce for cheap on the world. They can then import food which is presumed to be less radioactive, as recently seen by the urgency given to import of US French fries (Japan grows potatoes.) While the US was exporting some potatoes to Japan before Fukushima, they must certainly export more now. Who ever heard of urgently flying French fries to another country, as recently happened due to a shortage of US French fries in Japan? The well-known fast-food chain doing the importing claims to use local produce, so the reason for imports appears clear – neither they nor their Japanese customers want potentially radioactive French fries.
Even if the same 100 Bq/kg Japan radiation “standard” were to be implemented for all countries – and you can be certain it will not be – 100 Bq/kg is almost certainly more contaminated than food grown in the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia. Or, at least one hopes that food from radiation contaminated zones in Japan is more radioactive than in the US, though with wanton dumping of radioactive waste, even into US landfills, and legally leaking nuclear reactors, along with historical US nuclear weapons testing within the US, and Fukushima and Chernobyl fallout, one cannot be certain. The ill-fated WIPP is probably the most sophisticated US nuclear waste dump, and it was designed to fail over time. It just failed early. For those who missed it, this is how the US government handles highly dangerous transuranic waste (plutonium, etc):