Radioactive scrap metal found in Kobe

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

Radioactive scrap metal found in Kobe

KOBE, May 9 (Kyodo) - A Kobe-based scrap iron dealer informed the 
Science and Technology Agency on Tuesday that it has detected a 
radioactive lead container in a batch of scrap metal it collected, 
agency sources said. 

A 10-centimeter-high cylindrical container with a diameter of 10 cm 
recovered by Shimabun in Kobe's Higashi-Nada Ward was emitting 
radiation, according to the sources. 

When the agency measured the radiation, it detected gamma rays of up 
to 900 microsieverts per hour coming from the container's surface, 
they said. 

One microsievert is 1-1,000,000th of a sievert. The maximum safe 
exposure limit for people is 1 millisievert per year. 

When Shimabun delivered the batch to Kakogawa Steelworks of Kobe 
Steel Ltd. in Kakogawa, Hyogo Prefecture, on Monday, a radiation 
alarm at the entrance gate detected minor radiation. Kobe Steel 
returned the iron to Shimabun, the sources said. 

Shimabun officials said the iron was mainly collected from steel 
factories and construction debris salvaging firms in Kobe. 

The agency has dispatched officials to Shimabun to determine how the 
container turned up. 

On April 28, a radioactive substance was detected inside a sealed 
container unloaded at Osaka port that was imported from the 
Philippines by a steelworks of Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. in 
Wakayama. 

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

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