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    June 15, 2011

Nuclear-Tainted Tea Found at 5 Japanese Plants

   VOA News
   A machine collects radioactive material in the air for sampling at the
   Unit 3 reactor of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in Fukushima
   prefecture in this handout picture taken on June 13 and released on
   June 14, 2011
   Photo: Reuters
   A machine collects radioactive material in the air for sampling at the
   Unit 3 reactor of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in Fukushima
   prefecture in this handout picture taken on June 13 and released on
   June 14, 2011

   Officials in the Japanese prefecture of Shizuoka have asked five tea
   manufacturing plants to stop shipping green tea leaves after they were
   found to contain excessive levels of a radioactive material.
   The tea leaves contained 580 to 650 becquerels of radioactive cesium
   per kilogram, above the legal limit of 500 becquerels. The product was
   tested due to fears of contamination in the aftermath of the Fukushima
   nuclear plant disaster.
   The plant's nuclear reactors failed after its cooling systems were
   damaged in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, triggering radiation
   leaks.
   Shizuoka, located more than 400 kilometers south of Fukushima, is one
   of Japan's leading tea-producing areas.

   Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.

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