Experts trying to identify radioactive substance from Manila

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Experts trying to identify radioactive substance from Manila

WAKAYAMA, Japan, May 1 (Kyodo) - Nuclear experts were trying to 
identify the radioactive substance inside a sealed container imported 
from the Philippines, without opening it, Science and Technology 
Agency officials said Monday. 

The agency dispatched four experts from the Japan Atomic Energy 
Research Institute in Tokyo to check the container at a Sumitomo 
Metal Industries Ltd. steelworks in Wakayama, Wakayama Prefecture. 

Sumitomo Metal and the central, prefectural and municipal governments 
have been at odds over what to do with the 6-meter-long, 2.6-meter-
high container, with the steelmaker and the local governments wanted 
the agency to cart it away before it is opened. 

The agency officials said the four experts carefully examined the 
radiation levels of the container Monday morning from a scaffold set 
up surrounding it, and were discussing the results. 

The container, carrying 19 tons of stainless steel waste from cutlery 
factories in the Philippines, was unloaded at Osaka South Port on 
Thursday and transported to Wakayama. 

The waste was to be melted and processed at the Wakayama plant, 
Sumitomo Metal officials said. 

When the container was trucked Friday to the steelworks in Wakayama, 
south of Osaka, a radiation detector at the gate alerted workers to 
the presence of radioactive material inside, the officials said. 

When inspectors from the Science and Technology Agency measured the 
radiation Friday night, they detected gamma rays of up to 75 
microsieverts per hour as well as neutron rays of up to 6 
microsieverts per hour emanating from the container's surface, the 
agency said. One microsievert is one-millionth of a sievert. 

The detected levels of radiation are deemed very low and are unlikely 
to cause health damage, according to the agency. 

Officials at Mitsui Bussan Raw Materials Development Corp., which 
imported the container, said the company had recently imported two 
separate containers of steel waste from Manila to the Wakayama plant, 
but no radiation was detected from those containers. 

The company, which sells scrap metal, is a wholly owned subsidiary of 
Mitsui & Co. 

Representatives from Sumitomo Metal, Mitsui Bussan Raw Materials, the 
prefecture, the city and the agency will discuss how to dispose of 
the container as soon as the experts reach a conclusion on exactly 
what is inside it, the agency officials said. 

Sumitomo Metal, and the Wakayama prefectural and city governments 
demanded that the agency remove the container from the company's 
premises and from Wakayama as quickly as possible. 

Sumitomo Metal asked the agency to obtain the consent of the 
prefectural and city governments before opening the container. 

But the local governments are demanding that the agency take 
responsibility for any consequences arising from opening the 
container, local government officials said. 

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Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Division		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
ICN Biomedicals, Inc.				E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 				                           
ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue  		E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com          	          
Costa Mesa, CA 92626                                      

Personal Website:  http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com

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