Radiation registered in tea at Japan Shizuoka factory

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RIA Novosti, PUBLISHED June 14, 2011

An increased level of radioactive cesium was registered in tea produced at a factory in Japan's Shizuoka City, which is located some 300 km (186.4 miles) from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, NHK channel reported.

A tea distributor in Japan's capital of Tokyo has already notified Shizuoka Prefecture, which is one of the most famous tea producing areas in the country, that it discovered radiation levels exceeding the norms in the product.

"The prefectural government confirmed the contamination on Thursday, detecting 679 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium. The legal limit is 500 becquerels," NHK said.

The factory stopped shipping tea upon the orders from Shizuoka Prefecture, according to the NHK.

Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was seriously damaged by a powerful earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11.

Fukushima's operator has since been struggling to stop radioactive leaks from the plant's crippled reactors. Radioactive elements have been found in the water, air and food products in some parts of Japan.

Topics: Asia, Japan

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